When Alexander Salzberger saw Mattias Andersson's production of Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment", he was completely knocked out.
As a young theatre student, he had been taught more about classical interpretations. At Backa Teater, he was confronted with a 19th-century novel that had crash-landed straight into the present, without losing close contact with the original.
Right then and there I suddenly understood that theatre can also be modern and innovative!
Emotional release
The year was 2007 and, in the raw stage space - a former sheet metal workshop - the audience was greeted by a cordoned-off crime scene, with Raskolnikov initially in a worn-down jacket.
The production was directed by Mattias Andersson, then fairly new as artistic director of the children's and youth theatre in Gothenburg. The innovative police-scene setting was provided by his constant partner Ulla Kassius.
But Alexander Salzberger was mostly there to see his old friend Joel Kinnaman as Raskolnikov, a role that would become his breakthrough as a theatre actor.
Salzberger describes the theatre experience at Backa as a strong emotional release.
It was very dizzying - and perhaps the first time I felt like I really connected with a classic.
Formation complex
He believes that young people's excessive reverence for traditional culture was rooted in an education complex, stemming from a childhood devoid of culture. After the insight of "Crime and Punishment," Salzberger increasingly found his own voice and dared to experiment more in his artistic work.
What was it that made the performance affect you so strongly?
It was the first time I had experienced a production that was in tune with my own tonality and emotional frequency. There was something about a classic work being modernised so that it felt as if it was happening acutely here and now.
