Radioteatret is a department of the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

which produces audio plays for radio broadcasting. It was established in 1927. In January 2021, ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

'' cited a report from NTB, saying that Radioteatret ow isbeing decommissioned; furthermore "the theatre will get a new life as podcast".

Directors

Its first

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

was

Gunnar Neels-Hansson Gunnar Neels-Hansson (27 July 1883 – 9 June 1967) was a Norwegian theatre director. He was born in Kristiania to Thora Elisabeth Neelsen and Olaf Mørch Hansson. His daughter Thora Neels-Hansson was married to Per Schwab. Neels-Hansson wa ...

, who headed the theatre until 1950. Later directors have been

Jens Gunderssen Jens Gunderssen (19 May 1912 – 11 December 1969) was a Norwegian singer, songwriter, actor, stage producer and theatre director. Early and personal life Gunderssen was born in Drammen, as son of Karl Gunderssen and Ågot Uhl. His father wa ...

from 1950 to 1952,

Hans Heiberg Hans Heiberg (28 January 1904 – 6 December 1978) was a Norwegian journalist, literary critic, theatre critic, essayist, novelist, playwright, translator and theatre director. Early and personal life Heiberg was born in Kristiania as son of c ...

from 1952 to 1973, and

Gerhard Knoop Gerhard Herman Knoop (3 November 1920 – 25 October 2009) was a Norwegian actor, stage producer and theatre director. Early and personal life Knoop was born in Kristiania (present-day Oslo), the son of Herman Waldemar Knoop (1887–1961) a ...

from 1973 to 1984.

Merete Skavlan Merete Skavlan (25 July 1920 – 2 November 2018) was a Norwegian actress, theater instructor and director. She was born in Kristiania as a daughter of newspaper editor and theatre director Einar Skavlan and music educator Margrethe Bartholdy. Sh ...

headed the theatre from 1984 to 1991, and

Nils Kristian Heyerdahl Nils Kristian Heyerdahl (born 11 April 1941) is a Norwegian historian of ideas, theatre director and non-fiction writer. He was theatre director of Radioteatret in the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ' ...

from 1991.

Early history

The private company Kringkastingsselskapet started broadcasting in Norway in 1925. When the state-owned

(NRK) was formed in 1933, most of the administration was transferred to NRK, including the music and theatre departments. In 1925 and 1926, broadcast drama consisted mostly of pure reciting from the drama literature. The first proper audio play was a translation of the classic play ''Light and Shade'' by L. du Garde Peach, which was sent in March 1926. The first Norwegian proper ''audio'' play was Per Jespersen's sketch ''Hvem har telefonert?'' from March 1927, while the second was ''Luftreisen'' by

Peter Lykke-Seest Peter Lykke-Seest (26 September 1868 – 4 February 1948) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, playwright, non-fiction writer, script writer and film director. He was born in Christiania as a son of wholesaler Jens Peter Seest and Caroline Christ ...

. In addition to specially written audio plays, also ordinary plays were adapted for radio. In 1927 reciter Gunnar Neels-Hansson was appointed as leader of the drama production, the first theatre director. Among the productions from 1927 were ''Ervingen'' by

Ivar Aasen Ivar Andreas Aasen (; 5 August 1813 – 23 September 1896) was a Norwegian philologist, lexicographer, playwright, and poet. He is best known for having assembled one of the two official written versions of the Norwegian language, Nynorsk, from va ...

, ''Jeppe'' by

Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. He was influenced by Humanism, ...

and

Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

's ''Dødsdansen''. The first productions were sent live. One of the challenges was the logistics when many actors had to share the same microphone. Another challenge was the sound effects, which were often improvised by the technicians. From 1934 special instruments were made for sound effects. The number of productions were about 20 per year in the late 1920s.

References

{{NRK Theatres in Norway Performing groups established in 1927 NRK 1927 establishments in Norway