Tormod Skagestad (9 August 1920 – 4 January 1997) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, playwright, actor and
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 ...
.
Biography
Tormod Skagestad was born in
Krødsherad
Krødsherad (''Krødsherad kommune'') is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Noresund. The municipality of Krødsherad was established when it was separated from the municipality ...
,
Buskerud
Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardan ...
county, Norway. Skagestad grew up in a rich cultural environment. His father was a teacher and sexton of the village, his mother was the organist. After his final exams (1942) and he earned a master's degree in drama at the
University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
(1946–48).
After a period at
Radioteatret
Radioteatret is a department of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation which produces audio plays for radio broadcasting. It was established in 1927.
In January 2021, ''Verdens Gang'' cited a report from NTB, saying that Radioteatret ow isbeing ...
(1949–1953), Skagestad worked as an instructor at
Det Norske Teatret
Det Norske Teatret ( en, Norwegian Theater)Moe, Jens. 2011. ''My America: The Culture of Giving''. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, p. 133. is a theatre in Oslo. The theatre was founded in 1912, after an initiative from Hulda Garborg and Edvard Drablà ...
(1953–1961), served as theatre director from 1961 to 1975, and again from 1976 to 1979. He was chairman of the Norwegian Association of Theatre Manager (''Norsk Teaterlederforening'') for several periods and president of the
Association of Norwegian Theatres (''De Norske Teatres forening'').
He was married to painter and artist Karin Skagestad. He was the father of actors Tove Skagestad and
Bjørn Skagestad.
Awards
*Critics Theatre Prize (''Teaterkritikerprisen'') for the dramatization of
Olav Duun
Olav Duun (21 November 1876 – 13 September 1939) was a noteworthy author of Norwegian fiction. He is generally recognized to be one of the more outstanding writers in Norwegian literature. He once lacked only one vote to receive the Nobel ...
's novel ''Ettermæle'' in 1976
*Honorary member of the Norwegian Theatre Leader Association (''Norsk Teaterlederforening'')
*Knight, First Order of the
Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
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* Royal, Iowa, a ci ...
in 1975.
Selected works
Poems
*''Om fjellprofilan låg ei gullrand spent'', 1946
*''I natt skal mange våke'', 1947
*''Mørkt vatn glir mot havet'', 1950
*''Havdøgn'', 1950
Plays
*''Under treet ligg øksa'', 1955
*''Byen ved havet'', 1962
*''I gryet blir månen grå'', 1966
*''Det stig av hav'', 1972
*''Nora Helmer'', 1982
Novel
*''Hild Rogne'', 1982
*''PÃ¥ Rogne'', 1983
*''Farvel til Rogne'', 1987
References
1920 births
1997 deaths
People from Buskerud
People from Krødsherad
University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni
Norwegian expatriates in the United States
20th-century Norwegian poets
Norwegian male poets
Norwegian theatre directors
20th-century Norwegian novelists
20th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights
Norwegian male novelists
Norwegian male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Norwegian male writers
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