Working in what was originally a 19th century skittle alley in Stockholm’s royal park, Proventus enabled Pia Forsgren, the artistic director with a distinguished background in classical theatre, to develop the Jewish Theatre of Stockholm. It developed into a challenging and experimental stage on which to explore definitions of contemporary drama and performance.

Under Forsgren’s leadership, the theatre specialised in making environments prominent in its performances, utilizing architecture and technology as well as live performers. Rather than rely on a regular repertoire, the Jewish Theatre prefered to commission or choreograph works that continually reconfigured the theatre space. The productions of the Jewish Theatre used the whole of the building, blurring audience and performance space and abolishing not just the proscenium, but the idea of a stage altogether to come closer to performance art.

Forsgren’s view of the theatre has moved away from the formal conception of drama, and into a series of intense mixed media performances drawing on music, sound and light as well as text. The theatre has worked with existing plays, as well as specially commissioned pieces. Departing from the traditional model of theatres that carry the weight of a permanent company or long production runs, Forsgren has been able to mount a wide variety of very different productions for short periods. She has collaborated with a rich variety of writers, musicians and performers to put on performances in intimate theater spaces for audiences sometimes numbered in hundreds rather than thousands: a privilege that is made possible by Proventus and liberates the theater from commercial constraints. The space itself has been designed for maximum creative freedom, allowing it to be constantly transformed from one set to the next and to blur the lines between cultural art forms.

Pia Forsgren