What is Riksteatret

Riksteatret was established by law in 1948, as part of a coordinated post-war effort to rebuild Norwegian culture industry:

ALL OF NORWAY

Our audience is everyone who lives in Norway. We play theatre in places that lie so far apart that they might just as well have been in opposite ends of the European continent. Thus, we have a commitment to tell stories that can unite us, across all the small and large dividing lines we live with in this nation – stories we can all relate to, no matter where we live.

As we want to reach everyone, we rarely have time to spend more than one day anywhere. Next night, new venue.  Which makes it even more important that we present only the best. Our audience has to know that when Riksteatret arrives, they will be served theatre and drama of the highest quality.

RIKSTEATRET’S STRATEGY 2025-2030

Our vision: Riksteatret gives life meaning. Whoever you are, whatever you own and wherever you live, Riksteatret provides for comfortable living. 

Our mission: Our mission is to be an accessible theatre that moves and enrichens. We do this by creating and presenting a wide array of stage arts to the entire nation.

We develop the field of stage art and lower the threshold to theatre. In that way the theatre builds bridges between people, cultures and perspectives.

Our priorities:
• Riksteatret shall create stage art that is urgent and really means something 
• Riksteatret will take great communal responsibility 
• Riksteatret will strive to bring new audiences into the theatre 
• Riksteatret will prioritize children and youths

IT STARTED IN FINNMARK

The very first Riksteatret tour was a production of Sigurd Christiansen’s play “Travel by Night”. The tour started in Finnmark on the 16^th of July 1949. The region had been particularly severely ravaged by warfare. Riksteatret’s first director, Frits von der Lippe, chose the motto “Riksteatret – the whole nation’s theatre”

NORWAY’S NATIONAL THEATRE 

Today, Riksteatret performs in 75 Cultural Centres all over the country. During a year we send 8 to 10 stage productions on tour and deliver about 400 performances to audiences nationwide.

Riksteatret’s shows are large, costly productions that are staged in Cultural Centres in the form of full-scale evening performances. When the touring crew arrives at a new destination, all the technical equipment must be carted out of the tour bus and into the venue.  

In a matter of hours Riksteatret’s technical staff will have erected the stage decorations and readied the sound and lighting rig. Costumes for the night’s show are all prepared and hung in place, and the crew has acquainted itself with local conditions to ensure that the audience gets the best possible theatre experience. 

We give one performance, with a daily change of venues – six days a week. All in all, Riksteatret’s buses cover more than 130 000 kilometres annually, and we have a total of more than 8000 room nights per year. At times, Riksteatret may have five or six productions on the road at the same time

Riksteatret is a Government Service organized under the Ministry of Culture. Wenche Viktorsdatter Paulsen is the current director of Riksteatret. She took over the position on the 1st of April 2025, after Arne Nøst who had held the position for the previous five years.

WHAT DO WE PLAY?

Our repertoire spans from the great classics to new contemporary drama. Riksteatret puts special emphasis on creating theatre for children and families. Our ambition is to offer stage art that audiences all over the country will find relevant, engaging and attractive.  We collaborate closely with Cultural Centres and the rest of the Norwegian theatre industry, and present out own productions as well as collaborative productions and productions we buy from other theatre companies.

ACTORS

Riksteatret is a project theatre. We do not employ our own ensemble of actors but engage freelance actors and actors from other companies. Part of our mission is to offer new talent an opportunity. Accordingly, we frequently arrange auditions to find our actors for a new production.

OPPLEV MER (EXPERIENCE MORE) 

Riksteatret is more than the performances you see on stage. We also arrange audience-actor meetings, workshops for actors, introductory pre-show lobby lectures and other additional activities. Our Experience More-activities are meant to enhance the experience, increase knowledge and enable contact between actors and their audience.

SCHOOL OFFERS

Riksteatret has a fund from which teachers in primary, and secondary school (and the uniquely Norwegian institution called “folkehøyskole”) can apply for free tickets. Riksteatret offers bespoke pedagogical kits to go with some of our shows. These kits are commonly tailored for specific school subjects, either in the form of preparatory exercises ahead of the show or in-depth processing afterwards. We also offer meetings with the actors if desirable. Some of our shows are performed during working hours, with free entrance for school classes. 

WHAT HAPPENS IN NYDALEN?

Riksteatret is a versatile institution that requires complex logistics and planning.  Production, administration and rehearsals all take place in Nydalen, in Oslo. That is also where the theatre holds its preview performances before they go on tour. 

In addition to approximately 70 employees, divided into 27 different professional teams, Riksteatret engages around 200 actors, instructors, technicians and other theatre workers per year. That makes us one of Norway’s largest employers for freelance workers. 

Riksteatret shares workshops with Nationaltheatret at Brobekk, in Oslo.

RIKSOPPHOLD (RIKSSTAY)

If you are a freelancer or theatre worker, we can also offer office space or rehearsal areas for a period. Read more about RiksOpphold (Norwegian).