Gothenburg Fringe is the highlight of many a calendar year, and 2026 brings the 11th
edition of the festival. What better way to usher in the latest iteration than with the premiere
of a new show!
Written and directed by Richard LaBontee, Harold and Armando Are Dead is a
meditation on the human being’s need to create, the subjectivity of truth and what it means
to have fun. Starring local legends Christian Hjärner, Daniel Jeppsson Malmqvist and
Micaela Westerlund, the one act play is brimming with comedic timing, physical theatre and
a few artist-based jabs that hit a little close to home. They used every inch of the stage at
Goteborg dramatiska theatre with wacky movements, silly voices, and the occasional
sobering introspective monologue. They brought the space to life with nothing but the
humble chair and heaps of talent.
The one-act play is an incredibly timely piece on the intersection between making art
and capitalist society, and the pressures we all face to make money from what we create.
Those who make art for art’s sake, well…good for them. In the digital age, social currency is
on par with economic currency, and sometimes the importance of our reputation can surpass
the inherent need to make money. As many fellow artists will tell you, hopes and dreams
don’t pay the bills – yet if you’re not enjoying your life then are you really living at all? To
debut a show like this at Gothenburg Fringe ensured an audience of fellow art lovers who
would understand the difficulty of finding that balance. In a world that is so easily governed
by money, figures and possessions, it is almost radical to do something because…Get
this…You want to.
Two Birds One Stone Theatre totally smashed their theatrical debut, to the tune of a
standing ovation and a very emotional director. If you take one thing away from the show, let
it be this: art can never die, because we are made of art, and art is made of us.
Ceri Taylor
