Radioteatret is a department of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation which produces audio plays for radio broadcasting. It was established in 1927.

Directors

Its first theatre director was Gunnar Neels-Hansson, who headed the theatre until 1950. Later directors have been Jens Gunderssen

Jens Gunderssen

Jens Gunderssen was a Norwegian singer, songwriter, actor, stage producer and theatre director.-Early and personal life:...

 from 1950 to 1952, Hans Heiberg

Hans Heiberg

Hans Heiberg was a Norwegian journalist, literary critic, theatre critic, essayist, novelist, playwright, translator and theatre director.-Early and personal life:...

 from 1952 to 1973, and Gerhard Knoop

Gerhard Knoop

Gerhard Herman Knoop was a Norwegian actor, stage producer and theatre director.-Early and personal life:...

 from 1973 to 1984. Merete Skavlan

Merete Skavlan

Merete Skavlan is a Norwegian actress, theatre instructor and director.She was the daughter of newspaper editor and theatre director Einar Skavlan and music educator Margrethe Bartholdy....

 headed the theatre from 1984 to 1991, and Nils Kristian Heyerdahl

Nils Kristian Heyerdahl

Nils Kristian Heyerdahl is a Norwegian historian of ideas, theatre director and non-fiction writer. He was appointed theatre director of Radioteatret in the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation from 1991 to 2011.-References:...

 from 1991.

Early history

The private company Kringkastingselskapet started broadcasting in Norway in 1925. When the state-owned Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) was formed in 1933, most of the administration was transferred to NRK, including the music and theatre departments.

In 1925 and 1926, broadcasted drama consisted mostly of pure reciting from the drama literature. The first proper audio play was a translation of the classic play Light and Shade by L. du Garde Peach

L. du Garde Peach

Lawrence du Garde Peach was an English author and playwright for radio, stage and screen. He may be best remembered as the author of over 30 books for Ladybird's Adventure from History series of nonfiction children's books, published from 1957 until his death...

, which was sent in March 1926. The first Norwegian proper audio play was Per Jespersen's sketch Hvem har telefonert? from March 1927, while the second was Luftreisen by Peter Lykke-Seest. In addition to specially written audio plays, also ordinary plays were adapted for radio. In 1927 reciter Gunnar Neels-Hansson was appointed as leader of the drama production, the first theatre director. Among the productions from 1927 were Ervingen by Ivar Aasen

Ivar Aasen

Ivar Andreas Aasen was a Norwegian philologist, lexicographer, playwright and poet.-Background:...

, Jeppe by Ludvig Holberg

Ludvig Holberg

Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian double monarchy, who spent most of his adult life in Denmark. He was influenced by Humanism, the Enlightenment and the Baroque...

 and Strindberg

August Strindberg

Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...

's Dødsdansen. The first productions were sent live. One of the challenges was the logistics when many actors had to share the same microphone. Another challenge was the sound effects, which were often improvised by the technicians. From 1934 special instruments were made for sound effects. The number of productions were about 20 per year in the late 1920s.