Ferske Scener creates context-specific performances in the intersection between text and relational performances. Ferske Scener was established in 2004. Our work is based on new texts. We create performances that thrill, challenge, ask questions and entertain the audience. We are interested in provocation as well as laughter.
The role of performing arts in society
We belong in the Arctic. The region’s conflicts and encounters connected to culture, language, ethnicity, and nature form the framework for our performances. We want to reach an audience in the whole Arctic region. Our performances combine Sami, Finnish and Norwegian language.
We create performances that thrill, challenge, ask questions and entertain the audience. We are interested in provocation as well as laughter.
We are inspired by the tensions in our society. Our performances are based on a need for conversation or negotiation that needs to take place here and now, live with our audiences. Our artistic methods and forms of organization are adapted to each project we undertake.
The forms of expression we use are varied and heterogeneous. We are not afraid to mix drama, storytelling, documentary texts, subjective opinions, poetry, and satire. We have developed new texts for the stage for years.
We are multilingual. Our performances combine Sami, Finnish and Norwegian language and are aimed at an audience in the whole Arctic region.
Ferske Scener is a catalyst for meetings between artists. Each performance is developed by a collective that combines experience and fresh ideas.
Our starting point is one where we want all performances and encounters with the audience to be interactive and participatory. We are committed to creating a complete experience, where all the tools, like the space, the script, the language, the first meeting with the audience, technology, and the artist presence, all help top create different forms of audience participation. Participation in itself is not the goal, but rather how the participation can build on the content of the current performance. Our goal is not to change the room we are operating in, but to engage in a dialogue around what possibilities lie within it – aesthetically and in terms of ideas. We are willing to take risks and open up for what we cannot completely control.
The organization
«The foundation’s purpose is to be a professional stage company, with particular emphasis on the development of new written texts for the stage. This involves working and experimenting with all the varieties of arts that concern performance in order to create significant performances for contemporary times. Ferske Scener aims to perform to a wide audience.»
Ferske Scener operates professionally and is financed on a project-by-project basis. Our revenue comes from national artistic funds and the sale of services and performances, as well as contributions from partners. Tromsø Municipality contributes with a fixed operating grant. Troms County is also an important supporter.
The artistic leadership of Ferske Scener consists of Kristin Bjørn, Bernt Bjørn and Kristina Junttila.
Scenetekstivalen – the “stage textival”
Every other year we arrange Scenetekstivalen in Tromsø, a festival for new texts written especially for the stage. Here scriptwriters from all over Norway are given the possibility of meeting an audience at an early stage in the scriptwriting process. Actors, scenographers, musicians, and directors are involved to make sure that each text is given the professional framework it deserves.