Arne Walentin

Arne Walentin (1915-2006) was a Norwegian stage designer and director, who made his mark in Norwegian theatre through large parts of the twentieth century.

For his entire career he worked regularly for The Norwegian Theatre, but he also took assignments at other Norwegian and international theatres.

His collaborations with artistic directors who also worked as instructors, such as Knut Hergel, Hans Jacob Nilsen and Tormod Skagestad, had great significance for the development of The Norwegian Theatre.

Information

(Objekt ID 11327)
Object type Person
Born September 26, 1915 (dead Navember 20, 2006)
Functions Instructor, Stage designer
Nationality Norwegian
Gender Male
Website NORSK BIOGRAFISK LEKSIKON
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Among Arne Walentin's great historical productions one may mention Anne of the Thousand Days by Maxwell Anderson, Kristina of Tunsberg by Kåre Holt and Tormod Skagestad's adaption of Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy. In his work with Shakespeare's drama he often used, as corresponding to the Elizabethan theatre tradition, a standing decoration, for instance in The Tempest (1959), Othello (1966) and Hamlet (1967).

In 1948 The Norwegian Theatre staged Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt in New Norwegian, directed by Hans Jacob Nilsen and with music by Harald Sæverud. For this production Arne Walentin used image projections for the first time - a technique he later developed. When the theatre again staged Peer Gynt in 1962, now directed by Tormod Skagestad, Arne Walentin also used the projection technique, but with even simpler, more abstracted motifs on the backdrop.When this production was performed as a visiting performance at Théâtre des Nations in Paris in 1963, Walentin was given the critics' award of that year, in competition with participators from a number of countries.

Arne Walentin won Norwegian Critics' Award 1969/1970 for his stage design for To Damascus, The Norwegian Theatre.

Arne Walentin also worked as an instructor, and for The Norwegian Theatre he staged Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill in 1951, The Bleaching Yard by Tarjei Vesaas in 1953 and Strindberg's Gustav Vasa in 1957.

SOURCE:

Næss, Trine. (2009, February 13). Arne Walentin. In Norsk biografisk leksikon. Found Janary 3 at http://nbl.snl.no/Arne_Walentin.