Scen:se at Folkteatern Gävleborg

Project support from Signatur has provided Folkteatern Gävleborg with the opportunity to create accessible performing arts works in different formats, as part of a major investment in the development project Scen:se.

Rotviska, which will be staged in spring 2026, is a sensory theater performance created especially for children and young people with complex disabilities. They encounter the tree’s characters and experience a playful and sensual adventure among windswept peaks and earthy depths, through tangled roots, rustling foliage, and everything in between.

In the heart of an ancient tree, full of life and movement, Rotviska follows every step of nature’s changes. There, the old gives way to the new, and all living things depend on each other.

Rotviska is a new international collaboration between Folkteatern Gävleborg, Estrad Norr, Scen:se (Sweden), and Replay Theatre Company (Northern Ireland).

The performance premieres in Hudiksvall on February 17 and will then be performed for adapted elementary and high schools on tour in Gävleborg until April 2. Between April 13 and 30, it will be performed in Jämtland Härjedalen and then in a number of locations throughout the country during the month of May. In the spring of 2027, Rotviska will continue its tour in Northern Ireland.

Scen:se is made possible with support from the Swedish Arts Council and Signatur Foundation Sweden.

AN INTERREGIONAL INITIATIVE WITH LONG-TERM GOALS

The grant from Signatur also helps the project, which started in 2024, to investigate the possibilities of creating a more lasting impact with the aim of getting the performing arts industry to work in a more inclusive and accessible way for people with disabilities. This is done through a national initiative across several regions, in collaboration with regional performing arts organisations, where the project aims to raise the level of knowledge about inclusive and adapted performing arts.  Today, in addition to Folkteatern Gävleborg, Estrad Norr in the Jämtland Härjedalen region is included. Through a national tour, seminars and training initiatives, Folkteatern Gävleborg and the other partners create common areas where they can reach out with the expertise that the project has accumulated. In the long term, the goal is also to create a platform for lasting programme on accessible performing arts.

Research and inclusion

Researchers are following the project and the production, investigating the need to make performing arts experiences accessible to children and young people with disabilities. The target group is at the forefront of the project, and the aim is to promote change in the performing arts sector, where existing structures often create barriers. The project wants to help the target group take part in more activities and experiences. By investing in accessible performing arts, a more inclusive society is created, where all bodies and all functionalities are allowed to move, act and be seen in the public cultural space.