NORDISKA ApS

NORDISKA Aps International Performing Rights Agency, is the largest performing rights Agency for the territories of Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, representing thus a great number of Nordic authors (playwrights, adaptors, translators) and composers and their works –plays and musicals-worldwide.

Christian Lollike, the award winning Danish director, playwright and adaptor, is one of the most performed Danish playwrights abroad. Many of his plays, which are critical and written in anti-naturalistic and open form, have been nominated for several prizes. In 2009 he received a Reumert award as playwright of the year. His repertoire includes: SERVICE SUICIDE, HISTORY OF THE FUTURE, THE WORK OF WONDER, etc. 

Among Nordiska’s members, worth mentioning is certainly the Danish film director and screenwriter Lars Von Trier, who developed the “Dogme 95” avant-garde movement in filmmaking, establishing rules for simplifying movie production, together with the film directors Thomas Vinterberg, Soren Kragh-Jacobsen and Kristian Levring. Many of their films have been successfully adapted and produced on stage, such as DOGVILLE, ANTICHRIST, BREAKING THE WAVES, FESTEN, etc.    

The Agency further represents a great number of foreign creators in its territories of operation and licenses lots of international plays and musicals, in local translation, to Nordic theatre producers.

The Agency’s history goes back to the well-known Swedish theatre producer Lars Schmidt (1917-2009), also known for his marriage to the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman. L. Schmidt was running THE LARS SCHMIDT TEATERFORLAG in Gothenburg of Sweden until 1975 and then, he sold the Agency to Hanne and Lone Wilhelm Hansen, who moved the business to Copenhagen and took over Strakosch & Nordgreen Teaterforlag. The Agency’s name was then changed to Nordiska Strakosch Teaterforlaget ApS. In 2001, Fred Olav Johannessen, who has also been a Director of Thalia Teater in the centre of Oslo, bought the Agency and changed its name to NORDISKA ApS in 2007. F. O. Johannessen is also the owner and co-founder of International Performing Rights (IPR) Ltd, representing foreign authors for the UK stage and co-owner of Gallissas Theater Verlag in Germany and Nordic Drama Corner Oy in Finland.