Studioteatret

Studioteatret (literally: The Studio Theatre) was a theatre company in Oslo, established in 1945, a few months after the end of World War II. Jens Bolling and Liv Strømsted took the initiative. The company existed for five and a half seasons, until the autumn of 1950.

Studioteatret was started to provide Norwegian acting with new impulses and ideas, and the repertoire consisted of elder and newer drama. The writers included Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, Bertolt Brecht, Eugene O'Neill, Maxwell Anderson, Thornton Wilder, Jean Paul Sartre and Arthur Miller.

At the time of the opening in May 1945, the theatre was led by Claes Gills. Later managers were Gunnar Olram and Ole Oppen.

For a short time, Studioteatret operated from Søilen Teater. It was later located in Carl Johan Teatret.

Information

(Objekt ID 27564)
Object type Organization
Organization type Theatre company, Private theatre
Main focus Theatre
Established 1945 (closed 1950)

Contact information

Address Oslo, Norway

Other information

Legal entity Other
More

In 1941, Jens Bolling was elected leader of The Norwegian Actors' Equity Association's subdivision for young actors. During World War II, the association worked in secred, as an alternative to the Nazi government's theatre academy. The company normally met at the home of Bolling, working with Stanislavski's system. Bolling had gotten to know this more or less randomly. This underground work led to Studioteatret being established in 1945.

Immediately after the liberation of Norway in May 1945, a group of young actors released a flyer, declaring that "The plan of a new and young theatre will be realised!". The flyer was signed by Jens Bolling, Claes Gill, Gunnar Olram, Arne Thomas Olsen, Merete Skavlan and Karl Eilert Wiik. 

Studioteatret was an important signal that a new generation of theatre artists could express themselves freely after five years of occupation. The company's working methods and acting style based on Stanislavski's system became dominating in post-war Norwegian theatre. This also laid the foundation for what later became The National Academy of Theatre.

SOURCES:

Annalisa Dal Prá's private archive, donated by Annalisa Dal Prá. 28.06.2017

Bolling, Jens: Teater i krig (literally: Theatre at war). Cappelen, Oslo 1983

Store Norske Leksikon, snl.no, 03.04.2012, http://snl.no/Studioteatret,  09.06.2020, https://nbl.snl.no/Jens_Bolling

Wikipedia, no.wikipedia.org, 16.03.2012, http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studioteatret