FERSKE SCENER
Ferske Scener is a professional, private theatre company based in Tromsø, Northern Norway. The theatre was founded in 2003, but its owners Kristin Eriksen Bjørn and Bernt Bjørn have worked professionally with theatre in the northernmost counties of Norway for more than 20 years.

The reason for our existence is the desire to challenge, as well as entertain, the audience, offering them engaging contemporary theatre, making them reflect about the theme og each performance.

Right: Bernt Bjørn as Strømmer in the performance of 2006. Photo: Ingun A. Mæhlum

The title Ferske Scener litterary translates to "fresh scenes", referring to the fact that the company specializes in bringing forth new drama for a common audience. The writers are invited to be members of the team of the performance, participating throughout the whole rehearsal process. An important part of Ferske Sceners method is to let the actors meet with the dramatist and his/her text in an early stage of the writing process. Different possibilities and theatrical ideas are tested out in the rehearsing room. We also bring in the audience at an early stage.

Ferske Scener is among the theatres in Norway with best results in making the meeting between contemporary writers and theatre come true. In fact, all projects and collaborations we have started so far, have resulted in performances.

"Potatoes have no wings", photo Ingun A. Mæhlum

THEATRE FOR CHILDREN
Ferske Scener also makes theatre for a young audience. Our performances are shown on small stages, close to the audience. The performances often include an element of storytelling --- direct communication between the stage and the audience.

In Norway the large institutional theatres also make performances for children, but almost all of these performances are classical stories and musicals: New versions of stories the parents knew and loved when they were kids.

For Ferske Scener, and other small private theatres, the aim is to focus on content and idea when making performances for young audiences. Children have the same emotions as grownups, they´re just less experienced in dealing with them. They are also less experienced in hiding these feelings, making them a rewarding audience to perform for.

ECONOMY
The budget of Ferske Scener comes from national fundings, as well as local sponsors. The Community of Tromsø also contributes.

TOURING AROUND NORWAY
Norway, and especially Northern Norway, is scarcely populated. It is expensive to tour with performances. The reason why we survive as a professional theatre, is the system of "Den Kulturelle Skolesekken" , which can be translated to "the cultural schoolbag". This national system allows professional performances and artists to meet the audience of pupils and teachers of the schools. The system has proved to be highly successful, and the main reason for that is that it offers the local communities and school a choice between different performances.

THE PERFORMANCE "POTATOES HAVE NO WINGS"
Right now Ferske Scener is touring around Norway with the performance "Poteter har ingen vinger", ("Potatoes have no wings" ), by the playwright Christina Veronika Mauer. January 2009 the play will be shown in Finnmark, and in April we perform in Troms.

"Potatoes have no wings" is for children, as well as grown-ups. The story describes the meeting between a desperate potato escaping from a french-fries factory, and a couple stuck in the grief of their daughter Lela. At the beginning of the play, Lela has been dead for six years. Potatoes have no wings is a simple story about how hard it is to go on with life after such a loss. It is also a story about the joy that appears when sorrow finally looses its grip.

Klaus Løkholm Bergli and Bernt Bjørn "Poteter har ingen vinger" Photo Ingun Mæhlum