Anna Takanen

Anna Takanen
Born1968 (age 57–58)[1]
Kungsbacka[1]
Alma materMalmö Theatre Academy[2]
Occupationsactor, director, writer

Anna Takanen (born 1968) is a Swedish-Finnish actor, director and writer who has been the artistic director of Gothenburg City Theatre and the director of The House of Culture (Stockholm).

Early life and education

Anna Takanen's father was one of the Finnish war children evacuated to Sweden at the start of the Second World War; he was aged four.[3][4][5] He was from Mänttä, Finland, and grew up in Halland County, Sweden.[4]

Anna was born in Kungsbacka, Halland County, and grew up in Tågarp, Falkenberg.[6] She was bullied at school for her Finnish heritage.[4][1] She attended Malmö Theatre Academy, graduating in 1994.[2][7]

Career

Takanen acted with the Stockholm company Unga Klara between 1995 and 2005.[2][8] She was mentored by Suzanne Osten.[9] In 2018, she played Barbro Alving in a play about Alving, Bang.[7][10]

Takanen became director of The House of Culture (Stockholm) in 2015, and remained in the post until 2019.[3][8] She had been manager at Gothenburg City Theatre for nine years, from 2006 to 2015.[3][8] On taking up the post at Gothenburg at the age of 36, she was the youngest theatre director in Sweden.[1] Both her contracts as theatre director have included a requirement for her to act or direct once a year.[10]

Plays that she has directed include:

She has aimed for gender equality and diversity in her work in the theatre, with a focus on women directors and playwrights, and leading roles for women actors.[7][16] As director, she has put on premières of 150 plays, and two-thirds of those have been by new writers.[6] She has been described as having "väldokumenterad kompetens att peta i svensk-finska familjesår" ("well-documented competence in probing Swedish-Finnish family wounds").[17] When she resigned as director of Stockholm in 2019, her work was described as "konstnärligt modig, kritisk och fullkomligt oförutsägbar" ("artistically brave, critical and completely unpredictable").[18] Svenska Dagbladet wrote that "mister svensk teater en engagerad och klok chef men den återfår en erfaren och stark skådespelare" ("Swedish theatre loses a committed and wise director, but it regains an experienced and strong actor").[19]

Writing

Takanen has written about her father's experience as an evacuee in her book Sörjen som blev (2019, Albert Bonniers Förlag). She adapted the memoir for the stage and performed it with the National Swedish Touring Theatre in 2021, directed by Mikaela Hasán.[20][21] The book was translated into Finnish as Sina olet suruni (2020).[1]

Awards

Takanen was named Swedish Finn of the Year in 2019 by the Finnish Institute in Stockholm.[22] In 2021, she was awarded the Order of the Lion of Finland for encouraging links between Sweden and Finland.[8][2]

Personal life

Takanen is married to a writer, Stig Hansén, and lives in Södermalm, Stockholm.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Parkkinen, Pia (29 August 2021). ""Olin finne, jotain rumaa ja naurettavaa" – Anna Takasta kiusattiin lapsena Ruotsissa, aikuisena hän raivasi tietä suomalaisjohtajille" ["I was a Finn, something ugly and ridiculous" – Anna Takanen was bullied as a child in Sweden, as an adult she paved the way for Finnish leaders]. Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wahlgren, Anna (18 February 2026). "Anna Takanen tillbaka i Malmö där Norén-hypen började: "Ett gastkramande kammarspel"" [Anna Takanen back in Malmö where the Norén hype began: "A gut-wrenching chamber play"]. Hemtrevligt (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Skawonius, Betty (19 August 2014). "Stadsteatern har hittat sin nya chef" [The City Theatre has found its new director]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 22 August 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 Bergström, Pia (30 October 2019). "Takanen försonas med finnenamnet" [Takanen reconciles with the Finnish name]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  5. ↑ Gustafsson, Miia (13 February 2020). "Vasta aikuisena Anna Takanen ymmärsi, miksi isä ei sietänyt yllätyksiä – sotalapsien kokemukset heijastuvat seuraavaan sukupolveen" [It wasn't until she was an adult that Anna Takanen understood why her father couldn't stand surprises – the experiences of war children are reflected in the next generation]. Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  6. 1 2 Wreede, Lena (20 December 2018). "Anna Takanen tänker inte vara någon panelhöna" [Anna Takanen does not intend to be a wallflower]. Hallands Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 Eriksson, Ellinor Gotby (30 May 2018). "Jag har fått många systrar i branschen" [I've got a lot of sisters in the business]. Kvinnotryck (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Anna Takanen" (in Swedish). Kulturhuset Stadsteatern. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Takanen, Anna (29 October 2024). "Hur ska jag klara mig utan min mentor?" [What will I do without my mentor?]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  10. 1 2 Ullberg, Sara (17 April 2018). "Anna Takanen spelar Bang i ny monolog" [Anna Takanen plays Bang in new monologue]. Hallands Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  11. ↑ Helander, Karin (2 October 2003). "Medeas barn: Starkt när barnets tankar tas på allvar" [Stark when children's thoughts are taken seriously]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  12. ↑ Blomqvist, Mikaela (27 February 2015). "Gripande släktkrönika om finska krigsbarn" [A gripping family chronicle about Finnish war children]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  13. ↑ Lease, Bryce (20 September 2023). ""German Autumn" At The Uppsala Stadsteater". The Theatre Times. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  14. ↑ Lease, Bryce (2 January 2025). "Adapting Stig Dagerman's German Autumn: An Interview with Anna Takanen and Stig Hansén". Contemporary Theatre Review. 35 (1): 54–60. doi:10.1080/10486801.2025.2486945. ISSN 1048-6801. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  15. ↑ Westling, Barbro (15 February 2026). "Alkoholistens ständiga lögner är klassisk teater" [The alcoholic's constant lies are classic theatre]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  16. ↑ "Anna Takanen ny chef för Stockholms stadsteater" [Anna Takanen new director of Stockholm City Theatre] (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  17. ↑ Djurberg, Cecilia (17 April 2023). "Svenskfinska familjesår i kvav på Dramaten" [Swedish-Finnish family wounds suffocated at the Royal Dramatic Theatre]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  18. ↑ Hilton, Johan (13 August 2019). "Ingen optimal stund för ledarbyte på hemlös teater" [Not an optimal time for a change of leader at a homeless theatre]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  19. ↑ Ring, Lars (13 August 2019). "Teatersverige förlorar en chef – men vinner en skådespelare" [Theatre Sweden loses a manager – but gains an actor]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  20. ↑ Huss, Pia (6 October 2021). "Anna Takanens "Sörjen som blev" är som en famn av sorg" [Anna Takanen's "The Mourning That Became" is like an embrace of grief]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  21. ↑ Petersson, Josefin (14 December 2021). "Sörjen som blev- Anna Takanen i en aktuell och personlig berättelse om att vara barn till ett krigsbarn" [The grief that became - Anna Takanen in a current and personal story about being the child of a war-child]. Lokaltidningen Växjö (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  22. ↑ "Vuoden ruotsinsuomalaiset 2019 palkittiin" [The Swedish Finns of the Year 2019]. SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). 29 November 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.