Tormod Skagestad (9 August 1920 – 4 January 1997) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, playwright, actor and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Biography

Tormod Skagestad was born in

Krødsherad Krødsherad (''Krødsherad kommune'') is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Noresund. The municipality of Krødsherad was establ ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

county, Norway. Skagestad grew up in a rich cultural environment. His father was a teacher and sexton of the village, his mother was the organist. After his final exams (1942) and he earned a master's degree in drama at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

(1946–48). After a period at Radioteatret (1949–1953), Skagestad worked as an instructor at Det Norske Teatret (1953–1961), served as theatre director from 1961 to 1975, and again from 1976 to 1979. He was chairman of the Norwegian Association of Theatre Manager (''Norsk Teaterlederforening'') for several periods and president of the Association of Norwegian Theatres (''De Norske Teatres forening''). He was married to painter and artist Karin Skagestad. He was the father of actors Tove Skagestad and Bjørn Skagestad.

Awards

*Critics Theatre Prize (''Teaterkritikerprisen'') for the dramatization of Olav Duun's novel ''Ettermæle'' in 1976 *Honorary member of the Norwegian Theatre Leader Association (''Norsk Teaterlederforening'') *Knight, First Order of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1975.

Selected works

Poems

*''Om fjellprofilan låg ei gullrand spent'', 1946 *''I natt skal mange våke'', 1947 *''Mørkt vatn glir mot havet'', 1950 *''Havdøgn'', 1950

Plays

*''Under treet ligg øksa'', 1955 *''Byen ved havet'', 1962 *''I gryet blir månen grå'', 1966 *''Det stig av hav'', 1972 *''Nora Helmer'', 1982

Novel

*''Hild Rogne'', 1982 *''På Rogne'', 1983 *''Farvel til Rogne'', 1987

References

1920 births 1997 deaths People from Buskerud People from Krødsherad University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Norwegian expatriates in the United States 20th-century Norwegian poets Norwegian male poets Norwegian theatre directors 20th-century Norwegian novelists 20th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights Norwegian male novelists Norwegian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Norwegian male writers {{Playwright-stub