The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to
Christiania Theatre, which was founded in 1829. There were three official opening performances, on subsequent days in September: first, selected pieces by
Ludvig Holberg, then
An Enemy of the People by
Henrik Ibsen, and on the third day
Sigurd Jorsalfar by
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. National Theatre was founded as a private institution and weathered several financial crises until 1929, when the Norwegian government started providing modest support. A number of famous Norwegians have served as artistic directors for the theatre, but
Vilhelm Krag who took over in 1911, is credited as having brought the theatre into its "golden age". The theatre is often considered the home for Ibsen's plays, and most of his works have been performed here. Notable is also the children's Christmas play
Journey to the Christmas Star (), written by the theatre's finance director
Sverre Brandt (1880–1962) and performed for the first time in 1924. The main building is centrally located between the
Royal Palace, Oslo and the
Parliament of Norway. It is served by
National Theatre Station and
National Theatre metro stations. It was designed by
architect Henrik Bull (1864–1953). The theatre organisation manages four stages: the main stage (), the amphitheatre () and Painting Parlour () within the main building. The fourth is the Torshov Theatre () in the
Torshov district of Oslo. ==Directors of the Theatre ==