The National Swedish Touring Theatre () is the largest

touring theatre A touring theatre company travels to different locations to perform Theatre, plays and Musical theatre, musicals. Touring theater refers to a dynamic form of Theatre, theatrical performance by its presentation in various location instead of a f ...

company in Sweden. It serves as Sweden's national stage on tour. The company is owned and funded by 240 local economic associations spread throughout the country. Their main goal is to promote and produce high-quality theatre for all of Sweden, with a focus on areas outside of the major cities. The National Swedish Touring Theatre was established in 1933 and has been touring throughout Sweden ever since. Some of Sweden's theatre companies, such as the

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre (, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The theatre has been at its present lo ...

(the national stage) and the

Cullberg Ballet Cullberg Ballet () is a Swedish contemporary dance company. It was founded by the modern dancer and pioneer choreographer Birgit Cullberg in 1967, who brought it to fame. After Cullberg's retirement in 1985 the company was until 1993 run by her so ...

, frequently collaborate with the National Swedish Touring Theatre, showcasing many of their productions.

History

The National Swedish Touring Theatre was established in 1933 by

Arthur Engberg Jonas Arthur Engberg (1 January 1888 – 27 March 1944), was a Swedish Social Democratic politician. He was a Member of the Riksdag 1917–1940, as well as minister of education and ecclesiastical affairs from September 1932 to June 1936, and ...

. Initially, in the 1930s, the National Swedish Touring Theatre functioned as the touring branch of the

in Sweden, allowing them to bring productions to audiences who were unable to attend the national stage in Stockholm. However, in the 1940s, the touring theatre was granted its own ensemble and began producing stage shows exclusively for the National Swedisch Touring Theatre, with the intention of touring throughout the country. In 1966 the National Swedish Touring Theatre underwent corporatisation with Sweden's second influential touring theatre organisation, Svenska Teatern, to form ''Svenska Riksteatern''. The following year, in 1967, the National Swedish Touring Theatre established a division entitled ''Unga Riks'' ("Young Riksteatern"), to produce theatre productions specifically for children and youth. Since 1977 the theatre group ''Riksteatern Crea'', previously known as ''Tyst Teater'' ("Silent Theatre"), has also been a prominent part of the National Swedish Touring Theatre. The unique group specialises in staging theatrical works for the deaf community using

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with #Non-manual elements, no ...

, and has gained international recognition and widespread acclaim in recent years. In 1999,

Lars Norén Lars Göran Ingemar Norén (9 April 1944 – 26 January 2021) was a Swedish playwright, novelist and poet. He was a director at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, artistic director of Riksteatern 1999–2007, and artistic director of Folkteatern in Go ...

, one of Sweden's preeminent contemporary playwrights, founded ''Riks Drama'' as a division of the National Swedish Touring Theatre. Additionally, the section of ''Riks Gästspel'' was established, which showcases guest performances by the National Swedish Touring Theatre abroad.

History

References

Further reading