It is the day before Christmas Eve. Albert and his wife Bettina receive a visit from Bettina’s mother, Corinna. The situation is tense... as usual.

This year, the mother-in-law has encountered a stranger on the train and invited him home for Christmas. The affable gentleman is named Rudolph, and with his cultivated manners and high cultural preferences he soon captivates everyone. But who is he? An inexplicable disquiet begins to spread inside the Yuletide home.

German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig has penned a humorous and frightening family drama set in an affluent and secure Scandinavia. In this depiction of Norén-esque relationships, the contours can be discerned of European political conflicts that put our humanist values to the test. Winter Solstice is staged by Emmet Feigenberg.

Roland Schimmelpfennig is one of Germany’s leading playwrights and his plays are staged all across Europe. His play Fear & Trembling was staged last season by Holland House at Takkelloftet.