Skagerak Playmakers emerged in 2011 as the result of a conversation between Beverly Martinsen and John Goodnow while they were both on vacation in the United States. John, with a professional degree in theatre directing, and Beverly with a background in dance and who later revealed a real gift for costuming, decided to form the group as a means of producing quality theatre productions in English in Sandefjord.

John gave Beverly two words – Peer Gynt. She was skeptical, but their first production in April 2012 was a successful rendition of Peer Gynt, performed in the Kurbadet building in town. The following year they moved into Verdensteateret with their production of The Wizard of Oz in April 2013. This production featured the first use of John’s three-sided, moveable periaktoi.

The next year saw the mounting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in April 2014, which involved John’s skills in stage combat and importing a great many swords from the United States. Each production attracts greater student involvement every year. In our C. S. Lewis’s Narnia:The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe featured in April 2015, had over forty students and former students and a number of parent volunteers involved with production.

The April 2016 production was a magical rendition of Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and in April 2017 we staged a heartfelt and moving drama production of Oliver Twist. The April 2018 production was the showing of George Orwell’s famous and still applicable political satire Animal Farm. The April 2019 production of the age old story Alice in Wonderland, was very popular for all age groups.