Dramatist Studio of Sweden

The Dramatist Studio of Sweden (Swedish: Sveriges dramatikers studio, Dramatikerstudion) is a Swedish theatre group founded in 1940 with the objective of performing new plays by Swedish and other Scandinavian dramatists.

The group was started in 1939 and officially organised in 1942 in Stockholm by the writers Brita von Horn and Vilhelm Moberg and the actor and producer Helge Hagerman.[1] Horn's friend the drama critic Elsa Collin was the secretary. The objective was to counter the carefully neutral dramatic offerings by the official theatres during World War II and encourage playwrights to write drama relevant to contemporary politics.[1]

There are varying accounts of whose idea the group originally was, but Horn was the driving force behind it. Moberg was initially the president, later succeeded by the author Bertil Malmberg.[1] The actor Börje Mellvig was artistic director at one point.[2] Horn herself took over as leader until 1958.

Initially the Dramatist Studio had no fixed home, presenting plays in various locations including touring productions. It was later based at Hamngatan 28, in the former flat of the operetta prima donna Anna Norrie, where from 1950 the company presented chamber theatre[3] as had previously been done in Germany, and in America by Orson Welles.[4] (The site is now occupied by an H & M and a carpark.) In 1948 the company added the Bygdeteater, a programme to present plays in rural areas in collaboration with agricultural organisations and Riksteatern.[3]

Ingmar Bergman directed several plays for the Dramatist Studio in 1943–44.[5] The group gave playwrights an opportunity to experiment and launched the careers of some actors and directors; it also produced some unknown works by famous Swedish dramatists.[3] Others associated with it include Willy Peters, Gunnar Sjöberg, Tord Stål, Ingrid Luterkort, Sif Ruud, Ingrid Borthen and Gunnar Björnstrand, and the directors Olof Molander and Per Lindberg.

References
  1. Birgitta Steene, Ingmar Bergman: A Reference Guide, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University, 2005, ISBN 9789053564066, p. 506.
  2. P. O. Qvist, Börje Mellvig biography Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Swedish Film Institute Swedish film database, 2004, retrieved 21 July 2014 (in Swedish).
  3. S., "Svenska dramatikers studio" Archived May 31, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Svensk Uppslagsbok, 1955 ed. (in Swedish).
  4. "I en kammare mot Hamngatan", Vår Tid, 1951, p. 18 (in Swedish).
  5. Steene, pp. 506–11.

Further reading
  • Ingrid Luterkort and Helge Hagerman. Studion som försvann: Svenska dramatikers studio, dess tillkomst och första säsonger: en dokumentation samt en hyllning till en grupp skådespelare som torde varit den första gruppteatern - om inte till namnet så till gagnet. Stockholm: Kommittén för Stockholmsforskning, [1991]. OCLC 186024024. (in Swedish).
  • Eva-Lotta Frid. "Svenska Dramatikers Studio: dokumentation av verksamheten 1940–1946". University of Stockholm, 1992 (in Swedish).
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