National Theatre (Oslo)

The National Theatre in Oslo (Norwegian: Nationaltheatret) is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts.

The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiania Theatre, which was founded in 1829. There were three official opening performances, on subsequent days in September; First, selected pieces by Ludvig Holberg, then An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, and on the third day Sigurd Jorsalfar by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson.

History

The National Theatre was founded as a private institution and weathered several financial crises until 1929, when the Norwegian government started providing modest support. A number of famous Norwegians have served as artistic directors for the theatre, but Vilhelm Krag who took over in 1911, is credited as having brought the theatre into its "golden age."

The theatre is often considered the home for Ibsen's plays, and most of his works have been performed here. Notable is also the children's Christmas play, The Journey to the Christmas Star (Reisen til Julestjernen), written by the then theatre's finance director Sverre Brandt and performed for the first time in 1924.

Nationaltheatret (station)

Nationaltheatret is an underground metro station and tram stop serving Vika and the city center of Oslo, Norway. It is located on the Common Tunnel of the Oslo Metro and on the Briskeby Line of the Oslo Tramway. Also located at the same place is Nationaltheatret Station of the Drammen Line. The station is served by all six lines of the metro, and lines 13 and 19 of the tramway. In addition, several bus services call at the station. It is named for the National Theatre located nearby.

The tram stop in the area opened in 1894. Nationaltheatret was the first underground station in the Nordic Countries; construction of a 1.6-kilometre (1.0 mi) tunnel from Majorstuen to the city center started in 1912, but was not finished until 1928. Until the 1987 opening of Stortinget, Nationaltheatret was the city terminus for the four western light rail lines: the Holmenkollen Line, the Røa Line, the Sognsvann Line (from 1934) and the Kjelsås Line (from 1942). The mainline railway station opened in 1980, and in 1993, the light rail station was upgraded to allow metro trains to run through it.