Malmö Opera will present the Swedish premiere of “LOL – Laughing Out Lonely,” a one-man opera featuring Danish countertenor Morten Grove Frandsen.

The production, which is  produced by Danish opera company OPE-N and composed by the award-winning duo Matilde Böcher and Asger Kudahl, is based on young people’s social media posts and explores themes of loneliness, frustration, and longing for connection, told with raw honesty and dark humor. Performed on the Storan stage with the audience seated on stage alongside the performer, the work places viewers in close proximity to the storytelling. Through Frandsen’s performance, audiences encounter a range of characters, among them “Miss Desperate,” who wrestles with her pain, and “The Lamb,” a young boy with unusual fantasies.

“LOL” previously played at the Copenhagen Opera Festival and toured Denmark.

Ahead of the Swedish premiere, Frandsen will appear at Moriskan for a Doc Lounge panel discussion on March 2, joined by incoming Artistic Director of Operaverkstan Helena Röhr and Malmö Opera Production Director Jesper Larsson. The conversation will take place alongside a screening of Ai Weiwei’s “Turandot.”

The Swedish premiere is set for March 31, 2026.

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