When plans were drawn up in the early twentieth century to build the present Royal Dramatic Theatre at Nybroplan, the State refused to give financial aid, so it was funded by lotteries instead. The results exceeded all expectations, giving the architect Fredrik Lilljekvist generous resources which he used to the full.

The new theatre, known as Dramaten, took six years to build and opened in 1908. The design was lavish, both in the choice of materials and in the contributions by leading Swedish artists.

The Jugendstil façade inspired by Viennese architecture is in expensive white marble. Christian Ericsson created the powerful relief frieze, Carl Milles the centre section and John Borjesson the bronze statues Poetry and Drama. These are complemented in the foyer by Tragedy and Comedy by Borjesson and Theodor Lundberg respectively.