Happy holidays and happy 2026!
Østfold Internasjonale Teater would like to thank artists, partners and audiences for all the wonderful encounters in 2025.
The ØIT office will be closed from December 20th 2025 to January 5th 2026. We will start the new year by hosting a party for professional performing artists in Østfold, before welcoming everyone who works with theater for children and young people to a seminar organized by Sceneteppe on January 10th -as well as a artist talk with Austrian KRA. On January 20th, we invite everyone in the county who works on their own performing arts projects to a workshop on grant writing.
ØIT would like to thank our audience, partners, artists, and everyone else who shared great theater experiences with us in 2025. We look forward to more encounters! Follow us here on our website, Instagram or Facebook – or sign up for our newsletter if you haven’t already done so.
Review of 2025
See the past year at ØIT in the pictures above!
(Due to a technical error, the images are not displaying correctly on mobile devices. We apologise for this and hope to have it fixed as soon as possible.)
- November/December:
Thomas Østgaard’s tenure as theatre director concludes with KunstFest vol. 7: 20 artists from 13 different countries, curated by Nela Kornetová and T.I.T.S. performance group. Deadline for applications for the second round of IN SITU PLATFORM closes at Dec 18th 2025.
- October/November:
LifeGame with Det Andre Teateret performs at eight different venues in Østfold with local protagonists. Oliver Sale and Gabriel Skogs The Art of Play(ing Man) har premieres Nov. 1st.
- September/October:
ØIT is granted regional theatre status and increased funding from the state budget! ØIT’s board decides to change the name of the theatre to Østfold Teater in 2026.
Direct Action Theatres Serve and Protect and Live Skulleruds et streif av farge performes at NonStop International Festival in Moss.
- August/September:
Fremtidens Østfold; Three weeks of performances, events and a collective exhibition of illustrated ideas of the people of Østfold on the future! We publish the colouring book In Search of Democracy 3.0 Sarpsborg with illustrations of the residents’ thoughts about the future of Sarpsborg.
Lars August Østerlie is starting as the new technical manager
- May-August: Installasjonen In Search of Democracy 3.0 visits Arendalsuka, Replikkonferansen at The National Library and Heddadagene at Det Norske Teatret, along with the performance også spilles.
We hod an Open audition for professional actors in Østfold.
Cici Henriksen is awarded Norsk Publikumsutviklings “Årets brobygger“, for her work with Spkrbx and Særp Tropez.
- April/May: Kick-off for Unge Stemmer a youth project run by Scenekunstbruket in cooperation with Brageteatret, Kloden Teater and Østfold Internasjonale Teater.
Live Skulleruds choreography et streif av farge with Østfold Dansekompani for Ungdom premieres under Dansens dager i Sarpsborg.
Ønskedrøm with Det Andre Teatret plays at Barnas Verdensdag Fredrikstad, where participants can also join in creating a mandala with Fredrikstad based artist Durga Bishwokarma.
- March/April: KunstFest vol. 6 kicks off on 5 April with Blaue&Poppy’s performance Iggy – Reality Strikes Back, as well as a massive group exhibition featuring several artists curated by Anja Bjørshol and Stefan Christiansen.
ØITs board hire Erik Eger-Schøyen as Thomas Østgaards successor from 2026.
- January/February: Mohammed Lehry starting as an aspiring artist, and we kick off the new year with Sea Matters – an international seminar in cooperation with Akademi for Scenekunst Norwegian Theatre Academy at Høgskolen i Østfold and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.
Almost 60 youngsters participate in the regional festival for DUS – Den Unge Scenen (The Young Stage)! Det leses søknader til utvekslings- og kompetanseprogrammet IN SITU PLATFORM . (Her kan du se hvilke norske kunstnere som ble valgt ut!) Thomas Østgaard informs the board that he will not be available for a new term when his fixed-term contract as theatre director expires in 2026.
Photos: Adam Reis, Ida Willassen, Angelica Hellman, Harald Fossen, Jan Husták, Eirik Stridsklev Nilsen, Anders Holmsen, Stian Servos, Eivind Helgeland, Mohammed Lehry