State Budget 2027: Crisis for Kloden theater

CRISIS! The state has invested 60 million in a new theater building for Kloden theater – but not enough to run the house

Oslo, October 7, 2026: The Government has today presented a proposal for the state budget for 2027. For Kloden The theater is modestly dramatic: The operating grant is proposed to be cut by 1 million kroner, at the same time as the theater is about to open a new theater building in the spring of 2027.

– This is a crisis. We are going to open a new national theater and quadruple the activity for children and youth, and open production facilities for the independent theater and dance arts field, which we so sorely lack in Norway. At the same time, the operating grant is being cut. It doesn't add up, says Artistic Director Ådne Sekkelsten.

The state has invested nearly 60 million kroner in the new theater, together with the municipality of Oslo and private donors. The investment will provide Kloden theatre has the opportunity to become a national stage for children and youth, a production site for the independent performing arts field and an important part of the regional initiative in Oslo.

Now the money that is supposed to fill the house with activity is being cut.
– What kind of use of tax money is it to invest tens of millions in a new theater, but at the same time reduce the money to run it? A theater is not an end in itself. The value lies in what happens there, says Sekkelsten.

From 2027, Kloden The theatre quadrupled its activity with more performances for children, young people and families, productions for the independent performing arts field and a much wider range of activities where children and young people can participate and create themselves.

It also contrasts with the signals Kloden theatre has received from the Ministry of Culture and Equality. Minister of Culture Lubna Jaffery has emphasized on several occasions Kloden the theater's national importance and the need to ensure the operation of the new building, at the latest at the groundbreaking ceremony in June.

– We have built the organization because we have believed in the ambitions the state has set for Kloden theater. Now we expect the state to follow up. We have the house. We have the plans. We have the young people and the artists. We also need to have money to open the doors, says Sekkelsten.

Kloden Teater asks the Storting to secure operating funding that makes it possible to realize the ambitions for the new theater.
– We are shouting CRISIS because this must be taken seriously. The state has started the construction of a large national theater house that will be completed in a few months in Kabelgata in Økern. We only want one thing, and that is to run this house for children and youth with good quality art and culture. Now we need the state budget to make it possible, says Sekkelsten.