King Gustav III is seen as the father and founder of the Swedish theater, opera and plays.

He founded both the Royal Dramatic Theater and the Royal Opera House; the latter one is where he was assassinated in 1792 during a masked ball.

Today Stockholm has a lot of different stages around the city for different tastes.

Royal Dramatic Theater

In 1788 the Royal Dramatic Theater was built as the national stage for “spoken drama”, and today it is renowned in Europe.

Containing eight different stages the plays are many and various and around 1000 shows are played annually. The pioneer plays of Ibsen and Chekov were also played here. The theater also has an acting school which over the years have produced many actors and producers who have made it into the limelight.

Ingrid Bergman, Greta Garbo and Max Von Sydow to name a few of them. The theater moved to its current location in the beginning of 20th century.

Stockholm City Theatre

Created in 1956 during the time when large parts of Stockholm were demolished to gain way for the “new city” through the modernization of the city.

Today it is the most popular stage in Sweden with the highest number of booking and is a constant competitor to the Royal Dramatic Theater.

On nine stages, which of one stage is an outdoor stage and another is situated in a suburb outside the city, it produces some 30-40 plays a year and with a visiting rate of 450.000 persons in 2005

The China Theatre

Built in 1929 and was intentionally a movie theater but over the years it has showed a lot of different plays and musicals as well. Its stage has been used by bigger and more established theaters as Royal Dramatic Theater, during different periods.

It became a very popular cultural site in the 1980s and is situated in the same building as the exclusive restaurant Berns Salonger.

Göta Lejon Theatre

As others of today’s theater stages, Göta Lejon was from the beginning a cinema, the second largest in Stockholm when it was opened in 1928.

Lejon which is the Swedish word for lion, is being portrayed in the entrance by a copperbaldachin crowned with a lion of copper.

The theaters biggest public success was “Sound Of Music” which was played between 1995-1997 with the Swedish artists Carola and Tommy Körberg in the leading roles

Mosebacke Theater (Södra teatern)

Since the 18th century the area around Mosebacke has been an “amusement center” in Stockholm. Over centuries the area has inspired and held concerts and plays with the Swedish culture legends. In 1857 large parts of the area burnt down, including the theater. Already in 1859, Södra Teatern, was opened and the cultural life of Mosebacke continued its saga. Today the theater is a place for plays, concerts, seminars and other international happenings.

The Oscar Theatre

Built and opened in 1906 it was named after King Oscar II and is seen as one of the finest theaters in Stockholm. It is mostly known for its many and big musical productions and operettas throughout Sweden. Between the years 1926-1947 the stage was used solely for spoken drama. The longest production held at the Theater was “The Phantom Of The Opera” which was performed 1173 times between 1989-1995.

Royal Opera House

Swedish opera has been played in 3 different buildings during the centuries.

Two of which is being referred to as the Royal Opera House.

The Gustavian Opera, which was founded by King Gustav III and later the place for the assassination of the king, was closed and demolished in 1891 after serving for more then hundred years. The new opera house, The Oscarian Opera was opened in 1898 and is still used to this day. The new opera house is standing on the same location as its precessor.

The Opera has 1100 seats, more then thousand rooms and the roof in the lounge contains a chandelier which weighs about two tons.

The assassination of Gustav III inspired Verdi to write the opera “Un Ballo in Maschera”.

Folkoperan

With a small, intimate stage and unconventional productions mainly in Swedish, Folkoperan has become one of the favorites for the Swedish opera audience.

If a production is not available in Swedish, Folkoperan then translate and write it before it is put up on their stage.

One of the trademarks of Folkoperan is that the singers almost are standing in the lap of the audience while the orchestra is placed on various locations in the room and is changing place with each production.