Scenekunstbruket is the largest provider of performing arts productions for young audiences across Norway. Our goal is to make sure kids and young people, aged 0–20, no matter where they’re from or their background, get to experience quality performing arts.

Our vision: Performing arts throughout Norway

Scenekunstbruket serves as a hub for distributing and promoting theater and dance for young audiences. We strive to make high-quality performing arts widely available and accessible by:

• Building a diverse artistic repertoire rooted in existing productions

• Fostering artistic development with a focus on quality and diversity through our production support, and incorporating new performances into our repertoire

• Streamlining communication and administration between performance groups and organizers

• Facilitating activities on behalf of The Cultural Schoolbag and related programs

• Enhancing awareness of performing arts for young audiences through network meetings, seminars, dialogue-based events, festivals, and other happenings, both online and offline

• Collaborating with our network of organizers in all counties

• Establishing partnerships with national and international organizations to elevate the status of Norwegian performance art for young audiences.

Annually, Scenekunstbruket presents approximately 2,500 performances distributed among 50-60 productions, reaching a total audience of 245,000 young people.

Our repertoire
Scenekunstbruket monitors the quality of the performances in its repertoire and offers a great variety of theatre and dance productions. Scenekunstbruket is not itself a producer, but selects completed productions for inclusion in the repertoire, maintaining knowledge and overview of current non-institutional performance art in Norway. A committee of consultants representing a wide range of expertise in the field of performance art, make recommendations as to which productions should be chosen.

Our repertoire is accessible for event organisers and other interested parties through our website, and we provide information about

• Performances
• Fees
• Target groups
• Technical requirements at the venue
• Press reviews
• Pictures, videos or other media from performance

Our network
Our network consists of eleven counties, their respective municipalities, schools and other cultural institutions, all with a high demand for performing art. Scenekunstbruket handles the professional aspects of promotion, offering guidance on production selection, contract drafting, and contributing professional insights to regional seminars for event organizers. Meanwhile, the network of districts, and local councils are responsible for organizing the tours.

Scenekunstbruket prioritizes initiatives aimed at elevating the competence of both artists and organizers. Essential tools in this include meeting places such as our festival: Showbox performing arts festival for a young audience, network conferences, professional dialogue events, and seminars.

Financial support for event organizers
Scenekunstbruket helps bring art to various places in Norway through a financial support program for event organizers. Organizers in Scenekunstbruket’s member districts can get up to 50% of their costs refunded when they present productions from Scenekunstbruket’s collection

Production funding
We have a funding program for performance art productions. We welcome applications for funds for new productions and revivals, for touring performances. To qualify, both the project and performers need to be professional, and the application should include a Norwegian organization number from The Register of Business Enterprises. Applications for new productions are evaluated by a vocational board, while the artistic council assesses applications for revivals in collaboration with Scenekunstbruket.

The Cultural Schoolbag

One of Scenekunstbruket’s roles is to be a national promoter of performance art within The Cultural Schoolbag system. This system is a nationwide initiative for professional art and culture in Norwegian schools, aiming to introduce students aged 6 to 19 to a diverse range of professional art and cultural experiences.

Read more: www.denkulturelleskolesekken.no

Showbox – the performance arts festival
Showbox is one of the largest performance art festivals in Norway, and takes place late November, early December each year. Showbox was established in 2005, and during the years that have passed since then, this festival has become the most important performing arts festival aimed at children and youth in Norway.

This year’s edition (2023) is the 19th, and during six days there will be a mix of various performances, artist talks, seminars and different meeting places between the international delegates, performers, producers and other participants from Norway and abroad. Read more on www.showbox.no