Swedish News

Asylum seekers in Sweden are moving to Denmark. Eugene O’Neill Award to Swedish actress Malin Ek. The Dramaten O'Neill Award. 2000 wedding gifts on display at the Royal Castle. Old-fashioned prune and almond cake. 

  • Asylum seekers in Sweden move to Denmark
    Danish police is now signaling that many people without permit are coming in from Sweden over the Öresund bridge between Malmö and Copenhagen. The Danish airport police estimation is that 300-400 people come from Sweden to Denmark, people who should no have permission to be in Denmark. Many of them believe that these are asylum seekers in Sweden who are tempted over to Denmark by higher paid jobs.

  • Eugene O’Neill Award to Malin Ek
    Every year Dramaten (the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm, Sweden’s national stage) gives out the so-called O’Neill award to an actor or actress who has distinguished him or herself. This year’s award goes to Malin Ek, actress and daughter to ballet choreographer Birgit Cullberg and actor Anders Ek (who was himself the recipient of the O’Neill award in 1971). “It’s incredible. I hadn’t even speculated in who might receive it this year,” said Malin Ek (born in 1945). She came to Dramaten in 1968,straight from theater school and has done a number of plays there, among others she played Agnes in Ingmar Bergman’s production of “A Dream Play” in 1970, and she also participated in her brother Mats Ek’s production of “The Merchant in Venice” there in 2004. “Dramaten has meant so very much to me,” Ek said. “Without Dramaten I would be a freelance actress, fluttering about.”

  • The Dramaten O'Neill Award
    Dramaten, The Royal Dramatic Theatre, has been handing out O’Neill awards since 1956. Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953), the American playwright and Nobel Prize laureate (literature, 1936), gave Dramaten the rights to the premiere of his play “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”, which took place in 1956 and starred Lars Hanson as James Tyrone, Inga Tidblad as Mary Tyrone, Ulf Palme as James Tyrone Jr. and a young Jarl Kulle as Edmund Tyrone. The play was directed by Bengt Ekerot (most famous for his part as Death in Ingmar Bergman’s film “The Seventh Seal”), the production was very successful, and the directing and acting critically acclaimed. During his lifetime, O’Neill always felt the Swedish people embraced his work to a far greater extent than had any other nation, including his own, which is why he gave Dramaten the play. O’Neill also always listed August Strindberg as his main inspiration for writing plays. Today the O’Neill award amounts to 35 000 Swedish crowns ($5,208). “I will donate more to Greenpeace, that much I can promise,” said Malin Ek when asked what she would do with the prize money. In 2010, you can catch her in the production of “Slott i Sverige”, at Dramaten.

  • 2000 wedding gifts
    The perfect wedding gift? Why, a toaster the color red of course! And there it was, the red toaster, in all its glory when the Royal Swedish Court opened the exhibition featuring the many (2000) wedding gifts received by Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel at the event of their wedding - now already 4 months ago. Apart from the red toaster, there are also crocheted potholders, embroidered tablecloths, Dala horses (in a variety of sizes and colors), and even a wheelbarrow. “We’ve chosen not to reveal who gave what,” says Ulla Lind, manager at the Royal Court. “We simply want to show the gifts and the love and thought behind them.” Among the gifts are also a nesting box, made by a 7-year old boy, as well as drawings and other crafts made by children. In one display case there are two porcelain frogs wearing crowns, and there’s also a cookbook and an osthyvel (cheese slicer). How many of these gifts will actually make their way into the Haga Palace where the Crown Princess and Prince Daniel live, is something the court won’t say. What is clear, is that everyone who sent a gift, will get a personal “thank-you” note from the royal couple. If you’re in Stockholm, you can catch the exhibition, which will be on display from October 19 – December 30 in the Hall of Mirrors at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. The exhibition mainly shows gifts from the general public, but there is also a selection of official gifts.

  • Old-fashioned prune and almond cake
    It’s an old-fashioned dessert with a lot of charm, the katrinplommonkaka. It’s delicious of course, but what’s even better is that it’s so easily done. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
    Ingredients:
    ¾ cup flaked almonds
    450 g pitted prunes, cut into smaller pieces
    4 egg yolks
    1/3 cup sugar
    ¾ cup heavy cream
    1 cup milk
    4 egg whites
    Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a large pan, and put in the prunes, add the almond flakes. (You can also pour a little bit of brandy or liqueur over the prunes in the pan to add some taste). Beat egg yolks and sugar and then add cream and milk, a little at a time. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, and carefully add them to the yolk milk mixture. Pour this batter over the prunes and the almonds. Bake for 35-45 minutes.