Expats Theatre to present ‘Cold Country’ by Swiss playwright Reto Finger

Expats Theatre is thrilled to present the live stage production of Cold Country by Swiss playwright Reto Finger. Cold Country is directed and translated by Karin Rosnizeck and opens Saturday, September 27th at 7:30 pm running through October 19th at Atlas Performing Arts Center, Lab 2, 1333 H St NE in Washington,

The Play: “Strangers are not good in difficult times,” warns the pastor, his words echoing through the isolated Swiss mountain village. But Hanna’s world is already crumbling. Two years after her brother’s mysterious death, and under the pastor’s unsettling gaze, her voice is stifled by the community’s rigid silence. When hikers from the city arrive, they become unwitting catalysts, prompting Hanna to confront the unspoken truths that bind her. As secrets unravel and the corset of tradition is ripped away, Hanna’s suppressed rage erupts, revealing the devastating price of enforced silence. This Kleist Prize-winning play examines a young woman’s individual resistance against oppressive conformity.

The Playwright: Reto Finger was born in Bern in 1972 and grew up in the country near there. He graduated in 1999 with a law degree and worked for two years in the district court of Zurich. In 2002, he was commissioned to write plays for Theater in der Winkelwiese and Theater an der Sihl, two off-theatres in Zurich. In July, 2004, he staged a reading of Schwimmen wie Hunde at the Burgtheater Vienna as part of the Authors’ Workshop. In 2005, he received the Kleist Encouragement Award for Kaltes Land (Cold Country). In 2006-2007, he was author in residence at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. There he developed the series of Fingers Freunde which he continued at the Schauspielhaus Zurich. In the following years, he was author-in-residence and guest dramaturg at the Schauspiel Essen und the Schauspielhaus Bochum. For the latter, he dramatized Max Frisch’s novel Stiller, which premiered in a production by Eric de Vroedt in April, 2016.

For more information about the play and playwright, see also his recent interview about the play at www.ExPatsTheatre.com.

The Cast
Mike Crowley* as Jakob Hauser
Maryanne Henderson as Jasmin
David Bryan Jackson* as Father Hoffmann
Elgin Martin as Tobias
Sadie O’Conor as Hanna Hauser
Melissa Robinson as Kathrin Hauser
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association

Production and Creative Team
Director: Karin Rosnizeck
Stage Manager: Amberrain Andrews
Set Designer/Projection Designer: Tennessee Dixon
Lighting Designer: Ian Claar
Costume Designer: Donna Breslin
Fight/Intimacy Choreographer: Jon Beal

ExPats Theatre is a 501 (c) (3) venture founded in 2019 by Karin Rosnizeck to bring contemporary international plays with new perspectives on today’s pressing global issues to Washington D.C. Previous productions include: Surfacing by Russian-Austrian playwright Julya Rabinowich, Einstein’s Wife by Serbian playwright Snežana Gnjidic (truncated by COVID in 2020, remount in 2022), Pankrác’ 45 by Czech playwright Martina Kinská, Christmas Eve by German playwright and novelist Daniel Kehlmann, The Body of a Woman as a Battlefield and Migraaants by French- Romanian playwright Matéi Visniec as well as Scorched by Wajdi Mouawad, Marlene by British playwright Pam Gems, and Testosterone by German playwright Rebekka Kricheldorf. Expats Theatre is the recipient of the 2023 John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company.

Cold Country
Performance Dates: September 27-October 19, 2025
Showtimes: Fri/Sat at 7:30 pm, Sat/Sun at 2:30 pm
Post-show talk-backs: Sunday, September 27 and Sunday, October 5
Duration: approximately 90 minutes (no intermission)
Venue: Atlas Performing Arts Center, Lab II, 1333 H Street, NE, Washington, D.C.
Tickets: ExPats Theatre: Cold Country | Atlas Performing Arts Center
More Info: www.ExPatsTheatre.com
Warning: Strong language and some sexual content