KONSTNÄRLIG PRAKTIK I TEATERREGI. En intervjustudie om Peter Oskarsons och Alexander Mørk-Eidems regiarbete

Abstract

This master’s thesis (15 credits) examines how directing work in contemporary Swedish performing arts is organized at the intersection of artistic vision, ensemble collaboration, and institutional frameworks. The study aims to analyze how directing develops during the rehearsal process and how it can be understood as a collective and exploratory practice that generates artistic knowledge. It is conducted as a qualitative comparative analysis of the working processes of two established directors, Peter Oskarson and Alexander Mørk-Eidem. The empirical material consists of semi-structured interviews, supplementary notes from a masterclass, and video documentation of the theater performances "The Tempest" at Orionteatern, 2025, and "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" Stockholms stadsteater, 2006, which serve as contextual reference material. This study is grounded in performance theory and practice-based theater perspectives, which are used to analyze how rehearsal, improvisation, and structure function as organizational principles in directing work. The results show that both directors work in a process-oriented and actor-centered manner but with different methodological emphases: Oskarson relies on generative and collective improvisation, allowing structure to gradually emerge during rehearsals, whereas Mørk-Eidem employs analytical preparation, using improvisation selectively within established frameworks. Overall, directing emerges as a relational and physically grounded practice in which artistic knowledge develops through organized work processes and interaction between director and ensemble.