About BATS

BATS Theatre is the international, English-speaking community theatre of Stavanger, Norway. We were founded in 1985 and have been running without a break ever since — through changing venues, changing boards, and a pandemic.

What we do

Each year we stage two to four major productions. The autumn play and the winter pantomime — in the British panto tradition, with the boos, the cheers, and the dame — are the anchors of our calendar; spring is usually a straight play or comedy. We give priority to original work by local playwrights when we can.

Around the main productions we also run Pop-Up Pub Theatre (short pieces written, directed, and performed by members in a single evening), Room for Improvment: the Improvfessionals (our standing improv troupe, founded 2020), and workshops on acting, improv, writing, directing, and the backstage crafts. See /popup, /improv, and /workshops for what's currently running.

How we're organised

BATS is a registered Norwegian non-profit, governed by an elected board and run entirely by volunteers. There are no paid staff. Everything you see on stage and everything that holds it up — sets, costumes, lights, sound, the bar, the front-of-house — is done by members who turned up because they wanted to.

Who can join

Anyone. We're open to all nationalities and all experience levels. You don't need to audition to be a member, and you don't need to perform — many of our most active members have never been on stage. If you can build, sew, paint, wrangle props, run a sound desk, hand out programmes, or carry a script around at rehearsal, there is a place for you.

Ready to take part? Head to join.