Medical Ethics Meets Opera in The Galloping Cure
Norrlandsoperan’s production The Galloping Cure is the result of an initiative by the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) to foster collaboration between research and culture.
Norrlandsoperan was one of seven organizations awarded funding through RJ’s initiative Art and Culture, which aims to create new productions based on academic research. The goal is to make the humanities and social sciences accessible to a broader audience. The opera is rooted in research projects in the fields of ethics and ethnology.
The Galloping Cure highlights one of today’s major public health crises—the opioid epidemic. The opera reimagines Franz Kafka’s short story A Country Doctor through the lens of the current opioid crisis, refracted through the kaleidoscopic imagination of author Karen Russell. Through its dramaturgy and music, the work reflects both the promises and perils of medical technologies.
One of the research projects underpinning the opera is Biomedicine in the Borderlands by Susanne Lundin, Professor of Ethnology at Lund University. Her research explores the ethical dilemmas that arise when biomedical breakthroughs commercialize the human body.
The Galloping Cure will be performed at Norrlandsoperan in spring 2026.