Studioteatret was a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It opened in 1945, shortly after the

liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

, with

Claes Gill Claes Gill (13 October 1910 - 11 June 1973) was a Norwegian writer, poet and actor. Born in Odda, but spent his childhood years in Bergen, before moving to Oslo permanently. His most famous works were the poetry book ''Fragment av et magisk liv'' ...

as its first theatre director. Studioteatret is regarded as one of the earliest post-war artistic expressions in Norway, and most of its members later played important roles in Norwegian theatre. Studioteatret closed 25 October 1950, due to economic difficulties, and its members were spread to various other theatres.

Background

During the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

the theatres in Norway were subject to a nazification process by the German occupants and the Nazi collaborationist government. The Nazis established a school called "Statens teaterskole", and demanded it to be mandatory for everybody that wanted to work in a theatre. The school was largely boycotted by students. When the Nazi government took control over the theatres by arresting resistant board members and inserting supporters in leading roles, the theatres experienced a general boycott from the public. When

Henry Gleditsch Henry Cochrane Williamsen Gleditsch (9 November 1902 – 6 October 1942) was a Norwegian actor and theatre director. He was born in Kristiania. In his young days he participated in skiing for SFK Lyn. He married Synnøve Tanvik in 1932. He ...

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 ...

Trøndelag Teater Trøndelag Teater is a large theater in the city of Trondheim, in Trøndelag county, Norway. Trøndelag Teater stages large-scale dance and musical performances. History Originally built in 1816, the theater is the oldest stage in Scandinavia ...

in Trondheim, was shot during the martial law in October 1942, the actors at various theatres, such as the National Theatre, initiated a silent opposition, which took various forms.

The Stanislavski Group

A group of actors and students in Oslo started underground meetings where they secretly studied

Stanislavski's system Stanislavski's system is a systematic approach to training actors that the Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski developed in the first half of the twentieth century. His system cultivates what he calls the "art of experiencing" ...

, named after the Russian actor and theatre director

Constantin Stanislavski Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( Alekseyev; russian: Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈgʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Soviet Russian th ...

's theories of theatre. These meetings, often held in

Jens Bolling Jens Bolling (23 June 1915 – 13 December 1992) was a Norwegian actor and theatre director. He was among the founders of Studioteatret, and a well-known interpreter of Norwegian fairy-tales. Early and personal life Bolling was born in Leva ...

's apartment, were potentially dangerous for the participants, as the Nazi authorities did not tolerate competition. The result of these undercover meetings was the founding of the theatre Studioteatret in 1945. Among the members of the group were the actors

Liv Strømsted Liv Dommersnes (née Strømsted; 28 September 1922 – 6 April 2014) was a Norwegian actress and reciter of poetry. She was a member of group that founded Studioteatret in 1945. Personal life Liv Strømsted was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norw ...

and

Per Gjersøe Per Gjersøe (13 October 1908 – 6 November 1980) was a Norwegian actor, stage instructor and film director. He was born in Tønsberg. He made his stage debut at Nationaltheatret in 1938. From 1945 to 1950 he was assigned at Studioteatret, ...

from the National Theatre, and

Gunnar Olram Gunnar Carl Andreas Olram (19 December 1908 – 12 January 2001) was a Norwegian actor and stage instructor. He was born in Halden. He made his stage debut at Centralteatret in 1930. From 1931 to 1934 he worked at Oscarsteatern, and from 1934 ...

from

Centralteatret Centralteatret ( en, Central Theater) is a theatre on Akersgata in the city centre of Oslo, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western ...

. Other members of the group were Arne Thomas Olsen, Julia Back, Beth Borgen, Ingrid Bothner, Edel Eckblad, Johannes Eckhoff, Lisa Thams Jørgensen, Anne-Cath Schulerud, Sverre Hansen,

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 ...

and

Per Sunderland Per Sunderland (9 October 1924 – 4 June 2012) was a Norwegian stage actor and film actor. He made his stage debut at Studioteatret in 1945. He performed at Det Norske Teatret from 1949, at Det Nye Teater from 1951, at Folketeatret from 1952, ...

. Claes Gill was a literary consultant and inspirator for the group.

Initial reception

Following the

in May 1945, the group prepared a performance held 15 June 1945, when they presented two one-acters. They called themselves "Studioteatret". The first productions were adaptions of

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' — a ...

's ''

The Long Christmas Dinner ''The Long Christmas Dinner'' is a play in one act written by American novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder in 1931. In its first published form, it was included in the volume ''The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Plays in One Act''. Charact ...

'' ( no, Den lange julemiddagen), and

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

's ''Where the Cross Is Made'' ( no, Mary Allen). Several government ministers were present at the premiere, along with chief editors and theatre critics from most of the Oslo newspapers, and the reception was overwhelming.

Later repertoire

Studioteatret existed from 1945 to 1950. Its first theatre director was Claes Gill. Their production in 1946 of Wilder's play

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 throug ...

, translated by Claes Gill, was a great success. Among the theatre's other productions in 1946 were adaptions of

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

's ''

A Marriage Proposal ''A Marriage Proposal'' (sometimes translated as simply ''The Proposal'', russian: Предложение, translit=Predlozheniye, italic=yes) is a One-act play, one-act farce by Anton Chekhov, written in 1888–1889 and first performed in 1890. ...

'', Chekhov's ''The Wedding'', and

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''The ...

's ''The Beautiful People''. 1947 included ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satiri ...

'' and '' The Respectful Prostitute''. Studioteatret performed at

Søilen Teater Søilen Teater was a theatre that opened in Oslo in 1930. It was managed by Sophus Dahl until 1932. It was then a supporting stage for Chat Noir until 1934. From 1934 to 1939 the theatre was run by Henry Gleditsch, and from 1939 it was run by Aud ...

and later at the Carl Johan Theater, and its repertoire consisted of plays by playwrights such as

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' ( ...

and

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

. Later theatre directors were Gunnar Olram and Ole Oppen. In 1950 the theatre had to close, due to economic difficulties.

Impact

Most of the members of Studioteatret later had central roles in Norwegian theatre. Claes Gill, Arne Thomas Olsen, Jens Bolling and Merete Skavlan were all later theatre directors. Others worked as stage producers and actors. The

Norwegian National Academy of Theatre The Oslo National Academy of the Arts ( no, Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo, ''KHiO'') is a university college in Oslo, Norway, that provides education in visual arts, design and performing arts. It is one of two public institutes of higher learning in ...

, established in 1953 and headed by Arne Thomas Olsen the next ten years, was heavily influenced by the group's working practice. The emerging new theatre institutions, such as

Rogaland Teater Rogaland Teater is a theatre in Stavanger, Norway. Background The theatre building was built in 1883 on a parcel of '' Kannik prestegård''. It was designed by architect Hartvig Sverdrup Eckhoff, and initially held close to 500 seats. The bui ...

(established in 1947),

Riksteatret Riksteatret (English: National Traveling Theater) is a Norwegian touring theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or ima ...

(established in 1948) and

Fjernsynsteatret Fjernsynsteatret was a department of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) which produced plays for television broadcasting. It opened in 1960 (after about a year of experimental operation), and operated until 1990, when a major reorganisati ...

(opened in 1960), were influenced by members of the group.

References

{{Coord, 59, 54, 52, N, 10, 44, 16, E, type:landmark_region:NO_dim:930, display=title Former theatres in Norway 1945 establishments in Norway 1950 disestablishments in Norway