Tom Lundskær-Nielsen

Kjeld Abell is one of the most prominent and innovative Danish playwrights in the 20th century. In his early plays he satirises the narrow, conventional outlook of the bourgeoisie from a socialist viewpoint. Later, he focuses on political commitment and moral dilemmas, inspired by World War II and the German occupation of Denmark, while the post-war dramas become increasingly more symbolic and visionary in their universal treatment of the fundamental themes of love, isolation, community, life and death. Together with Kaj Munk, Abell regenerated Danish drama from the 1930s.