A House of Big Emotions
VIDEO
Tine Reingaard
FOTO
Frida Gregersen
At Betty Nansen Teatret, we create new worlds. We are a theatre on Frederiksberg Allé, but we are also a forest, a slaughterhouse - and the next day a quiet 19th century living room.
Every performance is a whole universe in itself and we invite you to create with us. Together we will imagine a world that doesn't exist when you sit down in the theatre, but which may exist inside you when you leave.
We mix music, words and bodies in motion to create a unified, sensory performance that speaks to your heart rather than your head – and we are not afraid of any emotions!
Being human can be ugly, overwhelming, impossible and utterly improbably beautiful. Sometimes we love each other, as in the performance EN SÆRSOMMERNATSDRØM, sometimes we fight for power, as in ANIMAL FARM and EDWARD II, dreams of something we cannot have, as in I AM GOLD, or argue over ridiculous things, as in ILIADEN.
THE CRAZIEST THINGS WE CAN COME UP WITH TOGETHER
We ALWAYS try to do the wildest things we can think of, and we do it best together. We believe that more voices can add more nuances to the story, and we try to place ourselves in new places in classic narratives.
We prefer to do all of this together with you. The forest, the slaughterhouse, and the living room only exist if you play along. It is only the harshest winter in 100 years if you believe it to be so. A man is only a donkey if you believe it to be so.
We look forward to imagining more new worlds together with you!
It was like be-ing punchedin the facewith emotions
Quote from the audience
A Woman Named Betty
We have been a theatre in Frederiksberg since 1869. We were first called Frederiksberg Morskabsteater and Frederiksberg Teater, before actress Betty Nansen took over the theatre in 1917 and named it after herself. During her 26 years as director, she made a clear mark on Danish theatre, which Betty Nansen Teatret still represents today.
As a tribute to the former director, her signature adorns our façade in neon. Since 2018, the theatre has been run by Elisa Kragerup and Eva Præstiin, and we often just go by the name ‘Betty’.
In addition to our stage on Frederiksberg Allé, we have the Edison annex stage, where you can experience more intimate and experimental performances. The building is located on the corner of Edisonvej and Hortensiavej and was once the first power station in Frederiksberg.
I wascompletelyblown awayafterwards
Quote from the audience
The courage to fail early
At Betty, we develop performances in our own unique way under the name BETTY DEVELOPS. Here, there is time to experiment, fail and try out both crazy and brilliant ideas together.
A whole world with its own logic, rules and way of moving takes time to create.
That is why we start working on the performance you end up seeing on stage several years before the premiere. Together, we experiment to find out exactly how the world of this performance sounds, feels and looks. Hopefully, this will make you join in the fun and experience our performances as more than just a performance.
If you are curious to know more about our artistic engine room go watch our documentary film that follows the work from start to finish on the two performances ILIADEN and I AM GOLD.
Watch documentary film