PiaRosenbaum
Pia Rosenbaum is an actor, playwright and director who has performed an extraordinary range of roles. As a director, she has also made a significant mark, not least with ‘Mr. Ibrahim og Koranens Blomster’, performed by her late husband Troels II Munk in the role of his life.
Pia Rosenbaum is an actor, playwright and director. She has performed an extraordinary range of roles across the country. As a director, she has also made a significant mark, not least with ‘Mr. Ibrahim og Koranens Blomster’, performed by her late husband Troels II Munk in the role of his life.
Pia’s path into theatre began at an early age. She made her debut at just 12 years old in the musical ‘Spillemand på en tagryg’ at Det Ny Scala: "It was an incredibly fateful experience. I thought, this is just the most amazing thing. This is where I want to be, if anyone wants to watch me."
The performing arts may have been in Pia's blood, but her father made sure nothing was left to chance. The celebrated entertainer, musician, lyricist and cabaret artist Simon Rosenbaum insisted that she learn the craft from the ground up. She took that advice and trained at the Danish National School of Theatre, graduating in 1976.
From there, her work unfolded across an extraordinary range of genres: theatre, revue, cabaret, musicals, television, direction and monologue. Her artistic life has also encompassed voice work for animated films and the creation and direction of opera for children.
Throughout her career, Pia has never sought repetition, instead pursuing the new, the investigative and the essential, through texts and formats that open new perspectives. In recent years, the monologue has become her particular domain, where she has cultivated the intense encounter between text, performer and audience.
She often speaks of "the theatre of necessity." It must be present, relevant and make space for the stories that are not told elsewhere. At the same time, theatre must entertain and create the opportunity to step into a shared space and experience something that reaches beyond ourselves.
For Pia, it is a great honour to receive an award in Henrik Lyding's name. "Henrik Lyding knew his subject inside out. He didn't get close to us personally, and that was precisely the point. He held his position, his integrity, and looked with a clear eye from the outside. That is what made his voice so powerful."
Pia Rosenbaum receives the Harlequin Performing Arts Prize 2026.
The Jury Said:
This year marks 60 years since the 12-year-old Pia Rosenbaum stood on the stage of Nørrebro Teater in 'Spillemand på en tagryg'. It was also at Nørrebro Teater that she recently celebrated her anniversary in the production 'Renæssance', as the woman with the most understated yet deeply moving life story in an ensemble of ten women over 60.
Pia's talent has flourished across every register, particularly in monologues, not least 'Oscar og den lyserøde dame'. Her refugee portraits have left profound impressions through their sensitive and deeply felt inhabiting of difficult lives, from 'Krigen har ikke et kvindeligt ansigt' to 'Hunden er rask'. This season she delivered an unforgettable solo performance in 'Hvorfor barnet koger i polentaen', a Romanian family chronicle in which even the most neglected characters were embraced with tenderness in her warm and generous interpretation.
The same applies to her monologue 'Århundredets rose', which is being revived and touring next season. Henrik Lyding saw the production and wrote in his review: "The way Pia Rosenbaum plays Rose, there is much to delight in."
That is the essence of Pia. There is a gentleness in her performance that never eclipses the temperament, but reaches deep into our hearts.
Congratulations on the Harlequin Performing Arts Prize 2026!
Jury
Dinna Bjørn
Choreographer
Anne Middelboe Christensen
Theatre and Dance Critic at Dagbladet Information
Michael Søby
Theatre, Musical and Film Critic at CPH Culture
Jan Hertz
Theatre Director
