Kjetil Bang-Hansen

Kjetil Bang-Hansen (born May 16 1940) is a Norwegian actor, director, teacher and theatre manager. Kjetil Bang-Hansen made his debut as an actor in 1959, acting in the movie Owls in the March and in the role of Lars in the TV production of A Sunday Off by Leck Fischer. In 1962 and 1963 he was employed as an actor and a dancer at Edderkoppen Theatre and from 1963 to 1966 he worked for Oslo Nye Teater (Oslo New Theatre).

Bang-Hansen made his directorial debut at Trøndelag Theatre with Two on the Seesaw in 1967. Since then he has been working for most Norwegian theatres and in USA, France, Denmark and Poland.

He was dean of The National Academy of Theatre, Oslo from 1973 to 1976 and has been executive director of Rogaland Theatre (1976-1982), The National Venue of Theatre in Bergen (1982-1986), The National Theatre (1986-1988) and Oslo Nye Teater (Oslo New Theatre, 1996-2001).

Information

(Objekt ID 5707)
Object type Person
Born May 16, 1940
Functions Director, Dramaturge, Actor, Dean, Theatre director
Nationality Norwegian
Gender Male
Website NORSK BIOGRAFISK LEKSIKON
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He was rewarded The Freedom of Expression Prize from Fritt Ord in 1983 andwon The Norwegian Critics' Award (theatre) 1999/2000 for his direction of The Acts of the Apostles for Thalia Teater. He was knighted by the Order of St. Olav in 2002.

Kjetil Bang-Hansen was nominated for The Hedda Award 2010 in the category of best direction for the direction of John Gabriel Borkman by Henrik Ibsen, Rogaland Theatre, the main stage.

Kjetil Bang-Hansen also was nominated for The Hedda Award 2004 in the best direction category for The Celebration, produced byThe National Theatre in 2003. The same year the same production was nominated in the production of the year category.

In 2003 he won The Hedda Award in the best direction category for The Importance of Being Earnest at The National Theatre.

The Hedda Jury gave the following reason:

"The winner of the year is a smart veteran, knowing Norwegian theatre from different positions, but for the audience he may be best known as a director. In this field the career of the winner has a wide scope - from classics to contemporary drama, from the deep-drilling to the feather-light. But what always characterises the work of the winner is insight and precision, a style-sure sense for details and an unparalleled feeling for the rhythm of the performance. The winner gets the award for a firework of a production. Light and bubbly like sparkling champagne, while being elegantly and strictly controlled, making sparks fly from the lines.

Whether or not everyone has understood it now, the winner of the year is Kjetil Bang-Hansen and he gets the award for The Importance of Being Earnest at The National Theatre."

Sources:

Sceneweb on The Hedda Award 2004, www.sceneweb.no, 24.10.2012, http://www.sceneweb.no/en/awarding/23869/Heddaprisen_2004-2004

Sceneweb on The Hedda Award 2003, www.sceneweb.no, 24.10.2012, http://www.sceneweb.no/en/awarding/23886/The_Hedda_Award_2003-2003

The National Theatre on Kjetil Bang-Hansen, www.nationaltheatret.no, 26.10.2012, http://fdb.nationaltheatret.no/S%C3%B8k/tabid/57/ctl/ViewPerson/mid/374/personId/42e5d7fe-7028-442a-bbc3-ac954c0cd7ce/Default.aspx

Affiliations (6)
Artworks (2)
Title Publiseringsdato Role
Ti liv* (Ten lives) Script – Author
Gudspartikkelen 2021, Script, Monologue – Author