Royal Dramatic Theatre
Sweden's national theatre, an Art Nouveau landmark on Nybroplan known as Dramaten.
The Royal Dramatic Theatre, known in Sweden simply as Dramaten, is the country's national stage for spoken drama. It was founded in 1788 by Gustav III and has since employed many of the best known names in Swedish theatre and film, among them Ingmar Bergman, who was its artistic director in the 1960s and directed here for decades. Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman both trained at its acting school. Around a thousand performances a year are given on five stages, from the Main Stage to the studio spaces Lilla scenen and Målarsalen.
The building on Nybroplan was designed by Fredrik Lilljekvist and inaugurated on 18 February 1908. Faced in white Ekeberg marble, it is the most ambitious Art Nouveau building in Stockholm. Carl Milles carved the gilded bronze groups Poetry and Drama flanking the entrance, Christian Eriksson made the frieze, and Carl Larsson painted the large lunettes in the foyer. The auditorium, in gilt and dark red, seats around 700, and the interiors were restored in the 1990s.
Highlights
- Sweden's national theatre, founded by Gustav III in 1788
- Art Nouveau building of 1908 in white Ekeberg marble
- Gilded sculpture by Carl Milles and foyer paintings by Carl Larsson
- Long association with Ingmar Bergman; around a thousand performances a year
