Elysium (Stockholm, 2025): report on the AI-driven immersive theatre production

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Elysium (Stockholm, 2025): A Comprehensive Report on the AI-Driven Immersive Theatre Production TL;DR Elysium is a participatory, immersive theatre production running 1 November–15 December 2025 in a 650 m² former retail space at Regeringsgatan 63 in the MOOD gallery in central Stockholm, in which the audience enters a mythological "beauty clinic" run by Hades, god of death — produced by Belinda Retourné AB, directed by Mathias Gullbrandson, written by Åsa Anderberg Strollo, and incorporating an AI/digital layer architected by tech entrepreneur Martin Källström. It is loosely based on the Greek myth of Hades abducting Persephone, explores themes of beauty ideals, existential dread and personal choice, and is primarily funded by the Swedish state arts body Kulturbryggan (Konstnärsnämnden), supported by property owner AMF Fastigheter; earlier editions ran in 2023 and 2024. There is no verifiable public evidence connecting Elysium to a company or collective called "We Are Agency"; the production's marketing is credited to PR figure Theodor Paues, and no mainstream press reviews were found as of this report. Key Findings What it is: An "immersiv teater"/participatory performance where there is no division between stage and audience; the public moves through and participates in a constructed world — a fictional beauty clinic called "Elysium Clinic." Narrative/concept: Set in a broken world, Hades offers visitors a "passage" to their most beautiful, fulfilled life. The story relates loosely to the Greek myth of Hades abducting Persephone (which causes winter). It probes ideals, possibilities and personal choices; myth meets contemporary existential questions (climate collapse, war, anxiety). Venue: Elysium Clinic, Regeringsgatan 63, MOOD-gallerian, just behind the NK department store, central Stockholm. Nearest transit: Hötorget T-bana. Run: The "salon" is open 1 November–15 December 2025. Premiere was 1 November 2025. Creative team: Belinda Retourné (initiator & producer, Belinda Retourné AB); Mathias Gullbrandson (artistic director & director); Åsa Anderberg Strollo (dramatist); Andreas Saag (composer & sound designer); Martin Källström (AI architect & digital interface); Theodor Paues (marketing & packaging); Oskar Hejll, Sara Kander and Olle Bjerkås (set design); David Fahlgren (sound and light tech); Ninia Lemhagen Vierth (costume). Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Visit Stockholm Elysium Elysium Cast: Mattias Tor Pettersson (Hades), Frida Liljewall (Demeter), Alice Brise (Persephone), Johan Heinstedt (Hermes). Funding: Primarily financed by Kulturbryggan, part of the state Konstnärsnämnden (Swedish Arts Grants Committee), under its programme for artistic renewal of theatre; supported by AMF Fastigheter AB. AI/technology: The production explicitly develops the immersive form by exploring the space between written scenes, improvisation, performance, audience role-play, and "a digital world/AI." Before the physical visit, a "digital conversation" (digitalt samtal) with Hades is scheduled to understand what the visitor longs for and wants to change. On arrival, visitors surrender personal belongings including phones, and are given a robe and slippers. Details The production and its concept Elysium (styled "Elysium Clinic") is a participatory immersive theatre work. Its official description reads: "Elysium är en deltagarbaserad föreställning om ideal, möjligheter och personliga val. Det finns ingen uppdelning mellan scen och salong och som publik deltar du i den värld som byggts upp." (Elysium is a participatory performance about ideals, possibilities and personal choices. There is no division between stage and auditorium and as audience you take part in the world that has been built.) The narrative frame is a mythological beauty clinic run by Hades, god of death. The world outside is "broken" — the marketing copy invokes greed, war, ecosystem collapse, fear and lost promises — and Hades offers visitors a passage "to the life the earth promised — but never kept." The piece "relates loosely to the Greek drama of when Hades abducts Persephone, which leads to winter." The tagline in the founder's voice ("Hades, Grundare"): "Ni kallar det eskapism. Vi kallar det en förverkligad dröm." ("You call it escapism. We call it a realised dream.") The visitor journey is carefully staged: after booking, the clinic schedules a pre-visit "digital conversation" with Hades to understand the visitor's desires; on arrival, guests hand over personal belongings including their phone for safekeeping, and are given a soft robe (over their clothes) and slippers before being invited to explore the clinic and its "offerings." Venue and staging The clinic is built inside a 650 m² retail unit on Regeringsgatan in the MOOD gallery, directly behind the NK department store in central Stockholm (Regeringsgatan 63). Visit Stockholm lists the event with the elysiumlife Elysium elysiumlife Elysium Elysium Elysium + 3 Elysium Elysium Visit Stockholm + 6 Elysium + 2 recommended station Hötorget T-bana. AMF Fastigheter AB — the property company associated with the MOOD gallery — is credited as a supporter of the production, which explains the availability of the large central-city retail space. The creative team and creators Belinda Retourné — initiator and producer; her company Belinda Retourné AB produces Elysium. Her LinkedIn profile describes a decade-long background integrating communications with sustainability, including work on the FORMAS science-communication project "Homo Colossus," and experience with augmented reality and performance art. Mathias Gullbrandson — artistic director and director. He is a veteran of Swedish immersive/participatory theatre and Burning Man–adjacent culture, operating through his company Blocks of Coral (form a castle). His prior works include "Hamlet inifrån" (2000), "Virtual Galileo" (2002), "A Gathering in The Glade" (2023), and the "Mutant" participatory theatre productions (2021–2022); he is also a co-founder of The Borderland (the Nordic Burning Man community). Åsa Anderberg Strollo — dramatist. A Swedish author and screenwriter, born 5 May 1973 in Bjärred, Skåne, whose 2007 debut novel "Bryta om" (Alfabeta) was nominated for the August Prize (2007) and the Slangbellan award, and won the Stora Läsarpriset (2008). She writes for TV, audio, stage and film (credits for SVT Drama, Viaplay, SF Studios). Her own site notes she is currently "aktuell med det immersiva scenkonstverket Elysium i Stockholm." She also offers a workshop through Centrum för dramatik on writing immersive theatre, using Elysium as the case study. Andreas Saag — composer and sound designer (a collaborator with Gullbrandson on "The Glade"). Martin Källström — AI architect and digital interface. Per Wikipedia, "Martin Källström (born 1975) is a Swedish technology entrepreneur... founder of Twingly, a blog search engine [founded 2006], and Narrative, a company known for developing the wearable camera Narrative clip"; he holds an MSc in Computer Science from Linköping University. His wearable-camera venture (originally Memoto) raised more than $550,000 in a November 2012 Kickstarter campaign, followed by roughly $12 million in venture capital from backers including True Ventures. He is now working on AI ventures including Kindship.ai and describes building custom AI "agents." Theodor Paues — marketing and packaging. A Stockholm PR/public-affairs consultant, born 1 January 1974, co-owner of Paues Åberg Communications. Per Swedish Wikipedia, "Paues utsågs 2003 till 'Årets lobbyist' av branschtidningen Resumé för sitt arbete med Svenskt Näringslivs kampanj för arbetskraftsinvandring" (named 2003 Lobbyist of the Year by trade journal Resumé for his work on the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise's labour-immigration campaign). He also has a role-playing-game background, having written the adventures "Dödens väg" (1989) and "Magilre" (1990) for Drakar och Demoner. Set design: Oskar Hejll, Sara Kander, Olle Bjerkås (Bjerkås is described elsewhere as an artist and engineer, and appears in Gullbrandson's circle via The Loop project). Sound and light tech: David Fahlgren. Costume: Ninia Lemhagen Vierth. Note that several team members' names are shared by other public figures (there are multiple "Martin Källström" and "Mathias Gullbrandson" entries online); identifications here are based on the best available contextual match to the production. Elysium + 3 Elysium + 2 Blocks of Coral + 4 Anderbergstrollo + 2 Elysium Use of AI and technology The production positions itself as advancing the immersive form specifically through the interplay of "skrivna scener, improvisation, performance, publikt rollspel och en digital värld/AI" (written scenes, improvisation, performance, audience role-play, and a digital world/AI). The most concrete manifestation described publicly is the pre-visit "digital conversation" with Hades — a personalization mechanism ahead of the in-person experience — with Martin Källström credited as the "AI-arkitekt & Digitalt Gränssnitt." Källström's professional background in AI (Kindship.ai, AI agents) strongly supports this being an LLM/chatbot-type interface, but the exact technical implementation (which model, text vs. voice, chatbot interface, whether it feeds into the live show) is not described in public sources and should not be overstated. Earlier editions (2023 and 2024) Elysium is not a one-off: official "anthem" singles by the artist HYPNØTIK confirm prior runs — "Pandora's Box (Official Elysium 2023 Anthem)" and "Hades Is Here (Official Elysium 2024 Anthem)," the latter released 1 March 2024. A LinkedIn post by Mathias Gullbrandson promoting the 2025 run asks, "Missade du Elysium förra året?" ("Did you miss Elysium last year?"). Details of the 2024 edition's exact venue, dates, format differences and reception could not be verified from public sources. Ticket information and pricing Tickets are sold via the Understory booking platform (elysiumlife.understory.io). Individual and group tickets are available, and gift cards are offered. The exact ticket price in SEK could not be verified from accessible public sources, as the live booking page could not be retrieved by research tools. Press, reviews and marketing No mainstream press reviews (e.g., Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, Aftonbladet, Expressen) or dedicated immersive-theatre-site reviews of Elysium were found as of this report. Non-promotional third- party mentions are limited to a Centrum för dramatik workshop listing (which uses Elysium as a case study and offered a study visit during October 2025 rehearsals) and a Visit Stockholm events listing that summarizes the show in English: "Elysium is an immersive theatre experience where the audience enters a mythological beauty clinic run by the god of death, Hades." The production maintains a social media presence across Facebook (Elysiumlifenow), Instagram (@the.elysiumlife), LinkedIn (company page "elysiumlife"), and YouTube (@Elysium-clinic), and uses in-world marketing framing (a "letter from the founder" signed by Hades, and the official HYPNØTIK anthems). The "We Are Agency" question The task asked specifically about a connection to a company or collective called "We Are Agency." No verifiable public evidence was found linking Elysium to any entity by that name. The closest marketing connection is Theodor Paues (credited with "Marknadsföring & Paketering"), who co-founded the Elysium + 3 Amazon + 3 elysiumlife + 2 elysiumlife elysiumlife communications agency Paues Åberg Communications — but that is not called "We Are Agency." This claimed connection should be treated as unconfirmed; it may be a private vendor, an internal working name, or a misattribution. Positioning within the immersive theatre landscape Elysium sits within a growing Swedish immersive/"omslutande" scene that includes works such as Satans demokrati, Ögat and Skogen, and companies like Temporarity, with Britain's Punchdrunk (Sleep No More) as the internationally dominant reference point. What distinguishes Elysium is its combination of a purpose-built, large-scale retail-space installation (650 m²), a strong satirical/mythological narrative frame (a beauty clinic run by the god of death), and an explicit integration of AI/digital interaction — positioning it at the more technologically experimental end of the Nordic immersive field, and notably backed by public artistic-renewal funding (Kulturbryggan) rather than purely commercial financing. Recommendations For a prospective attendee: Book via elysiumlife.understory.io and expect a two-stage experience (a pre- visit digital conversation with "Hades," then the in-person clinic visit, phone surrendered, robe/slippers provided). Confirm the exact price and running time directly on the booking page, as these were not publicly verifiable. For a journalist/researcher: The richest primary sources are the official site (elysiumlife.se and elysiumlife.se/om-elysium), the creators' own pages (blocksofcoral.com; anderbergstrollo.se), and the Centrum för dramatik workshop listing. To close the biggest gaps — ticket price, the "We Are Agency" question, and reviews — contact the producer (Belinda Retourné AB) directly and check the live Understory page. Benchmarks that would change this assessment: Emergence of a named review in a major Swedish outlet; an official statement or credit naming "We Are Agency"; or a technical write-up of the AI/Hades interface would each materially expand what can be said with confidence. Caveats Ticket price is unverified — the Understory booking page could not be retrieved. The "We Are Agency" connection is unconfirmed and should not be stated as fact. No mainstream press reviews were located, so audience/critical reception cannot be characterized. The 2024 edition's venue, dates and reception are unverified, known only via the existence of the official anthem singles and a LinkedIn reference. The precise mechanics of the AI element are not publicly documented beyond the "digital conversation with Hades" framing. Some marketing copy is written in the fictional voice of "Hades" and is promotional/in-world rather than factual; it has been treated as such here. Elysium + 2 Teateralliansen + 3