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 Drabl� ...

(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 * Royal, Illinois, a village * 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 *''På 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 {{Norway-writer-stub