What will you find in the Theatre Archive?
The Theatre Archive in Bergen contains theatre programmes, posters, correspondence, scores, manuscripts, photographs, set designs and costume sketches. You will also find material from independent theatre groups, school theatre and amateur theatre in Western Norway. The collections comprise around 600 shelf metres and hold the archives of several o
What can you use the archive for?
The Theatre Archive documents the entire life cycle of a production, from the first letters and rehearsals to the premiere and reviews. Here you will find directors' and prompt scripts with handwritten stage directions, lighting and sound notes and much more. The clippings archive holds reviews of Den Nationale Scene's productions right from the theatre's earliest years.
Until 2017, the archive received a continuous flow of paper records from the productions at Den Nationale Scene. We still accept theatre material from both private and public theatre institutions.
Collaboration
The Theatre Archive collaborates with several partners in the performing arts and research.
Sceneweb
Sceneweb is a national archive for the performing arts that presents information and photographs from the archive. On Teaterarkivet i Bergen on Sceneweb you will find, among others, Det Norske Theater, Den Nationale Scene, Komediateatret and Teater Rundt-Omkring.
Centre for Ibsen Studies
Together with the Centre for Ibsen Studies at the University of Oslo, the archive contributes to the Virtual Ibsen Centre, including a VR model of Komediehuset in Bergen. Komediehuset was built in 1800 and destroyed in 1944 during the Second World War. Ibsen worked here as a stage director from 1851 to 1857, and 22 of his plays premiered here during his lifetime. The project Visualising lost theatres reconstructs the theatre building and scenes from Ibsen's plays.
Outreach from the Theatre Archive
See exhibitions, films and articles from the work with the collections.
- The Theatre Archive on YouTube
- The exhibition «Døden i teateret» (Archive Day 2024)
- «Tove forteller om Ibsens tid i Bergen» (På Høyden, 2021)
- «Spesialsnop: Utstillinger og forestillinger» (På Høyden, 2019)
- «Den skjulte teaterskatten» (På Høyden, 2013)
- The Theatre Archive in På Høyden (recent articles)
- The Theatre Archive in På Høyden (articles before August 2020)
More about theatre studies
More about theatre studies at UiB.