Experience something new
Intens drumming. Photo: AtleA
At the super international, hyper local performing arts house Rosendal Teater you can do it all, without emptying your pockets. Sometimes it’s even free!
Find friends, and grow your imagination
As usual, when I enter Rosendal Teater, the space is in the midst of transformation. I show up just after the annual flagship event, the Bastard International Performing Arts Festival, which attracted over 3000 people and showcased 13 events of all kinds. Sheets hang from the ceiling in one of the sitting areas and there’s a pile of cushions all around.
Photo: Arne Hauge
Alexander Roberts, RT’s artistic and general manager, and Pia Martine Faurby Rosenkilde, the communication and marketing manager, explain that it was part of RT’s slow transition to becoming a ‘relaxed venue.’ The concept revolves around identifying the barriers that might keep people of all abilities from attending, such as visual impairment, anxiety disorders, or sensory challenges.
Photo: AtleA
We use our flagship festival Bastard to do everything we’re working towards times 100. This year, we created serene spaces like this, and our teenage curators made DIY fidgets with the artists for people to use during shows.
- Alex
“We want to lower the threshold with everything we do and make it as easy as possible for people to go.”
So, what lies beyond the threshold at Rosendal Teater?
Expect the unexpected
Bastard – whose tagline is ‘super international, hyper local’ – in many ways represents the core of the theatre’s work.
Our mission is to create a dynamic ecosystem. We’re international, but we have to make sure those exchanges have the deepest possible impact locally. The way you do that is by empowering what’s happening locally first. We put things on our stage that wouldn’t happen if we weren’t here.
- Alexander
Photo: AtleA
The theatre’s programme reflects this through events like drag king shows, experimental dancing, and neighbourhood parties. Pia joined the team before they moved into the historic Rosendal Teater, when it was still an experimental theatre in a basement downtown. RT has not only maintained the experimental nature of its origins on stage but expanded it to the entire organisation.
It used to feel that we worked from the inside out, but now it’s both ways, as we’re bringing the audience in closer and letting them and the artists influence each other.
- Pia
However, the theatre’s commitment to bold experimental art raises one important question…
Photo: AtleA
Am I cool enough?
There’s no doubt that people who have a passion for art and expression will feel at home at RT. But my first thoughts when I found Rosendal Teater shortly after moving to Trondheim were whether I might be too ‘square’ for this experimental space. “Honestly, I felt the same,” says Pia, who didn’t have much experience with performing arts in the beginning.
At first, I kept asking myself after performances, ‘Do I like this? Do I understand it?’ and my preferences revolved around that. But now I feel that going to a place like this and just experiencing the art is opening. Its strangeness makes you reflect more and become more tolerant.
- Pia
The café is a standing invitation to everyone. We’re always making it as easy as possible for people to go ‘I might as well!’ when presented with a new experience. It doesn’t have to be life-changing (although it can be), because there’s so much value in a fun and even strange night out.
- Alexander
Photo: Arne Hauge
Photo: Rosendal Teater
After a few visits to Rosendal Teater, I can definitely agree with Alexander and Pia that there are unique experiences to be had in the theatre. What I’ve slowly realized is that it isn’t about getting out of your comfort zone, but rather allowing Rosendal Teater to expand your horizons in a comfortable way.
You decide the price (no joke)
At the beginning of 2021, the RT team had a crazy idea: let people decide how much they pay for tickets. “We always knew it would be a positive thing, even if it might not work, because people would understand it as a serious gesture that said ‘We want you here!’” says Alexander. The risk paid off big time. Not only did audience numbers double, but the average ticket price also went up. The success means you’ll be able to choose between 5 price categories, from 75-250 NOK, except for those that are already free!
The Soup Man
One of the best experiences Alexander has had working at RT was at a Suppekjøkken, the monthly artist chat over free soup. “A man who lives close by came in, and it was clear he was mainly there for the free soup,” says Alexander, laughing. The man sat alone while the rest of the attendees engaged with the artist… until he couldn’t help but interject: “Sorry, I just don’t understand what you do!” The artist was gracious about it and admitted it was difficult to put into words, so he invited him to come to the performance. “I never expected he’d come, but he did! And the conversation he had with the artist afterward was so beautiful. He was pouring his heart out and said how touched he was by the performance. And it all began with free soup.”
Photo: Arne Hauge
Café as a stage
“We see Rosendal Kafé as a stage with a bar and a kitchen – not just when we have events on,” says Alexander.
The café is run by the theatre and curated in the same way the stages are: through pricing, atmosphere, pop-up events, and down to the smallest details. The café is a standing invitation for everyone – students, internationals, artists – to have a space to build a community around.
“Even the kitchen has become a stage through projects like LAMOMAT, a pop-up restaurant by women from Afghanistan, Syria, and Somalia.”
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