Denmark's Dramatic DNA
The Royal Danish Library has received a grant of 4.1 million from the Augustinus Foundation and the Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen Foundation to make Danish drama available to everyone.
Photo: Det Kgl. Bibliotek
30 May 2024
In collaboration with Danish Dramatists, in the coming years, the library will digitise, make available and disseminate approx. 12,000 recent Danish dramatic works from 1950 up to the present day. This provides a unique opportunity for everyone to read drama, whether it is at home from the sofa, in the classroom or somewhere else. With the special agreement license that was entered into in 2021, it is possible to make performed unpublished drama available. The Royal Danish Library is the national archive for performed unpublished drama, which is therefore only available via the Royal Danish Library.
Senior researcher from the Theatre Collection Anna Lawaetz says:
"Drama as a literary form has long been somewhat overlooked in Denmark. It is a big boost for drama as a literary form that it is now available across the country, and I am sure that reading drama can help develop the democratic conversation."
Jokum Rohde, deputy chairman of Danish Dramatists adds:
"The Danish drama from modern Denmark, which arose after the occupation, is now being made available in a big way via the Royal Danish Library, which is nothing short of sensational. This means that everyone can now dive into the dramatic way of understanding and registering the world outside the limitations of the theatre in time and place.”
The project will begin in August 2024. The first scripts will be available at the beginning of 2025. Part of the project is about disseminating the drama via the public libraries, and here a larger amount has been set aside for fees for playwrights, and there will be an effort targeted at upper secondary schools.