"One third of the production budget went to renting the robot, so it was very sour when we had to remove it from the show," says Nils Poletti, theater manager at Östgötateatern.
"Good that the performing arts are not limited"It was during the fall of 2019 that the Swedish Work Environment Authority suddenly stopped the robot to participate in the performance. It was believed that the robot was classified as an industrial robot and the safety regulations would be the same - even if it was agar on a theater scene.
Performing arts East directed the performance without the robot, but appealed the decision to the Administrative Court and considered that the robot should be classified as stage machinery and a feature of the performing arts.
After negotiations, the Administrative Law now gives the right to Stage Art East and cancels the decision of the Swedish Work Environment Authority.
- It feels good. We feel that we had done our job and were quite upset that the Swedish Work Environment Authority went the way they did. It is good that the Administrative Court does not follow their line and limit the performing arts in Sweden, says Nils Poletti.
Will we see the robot again?- There are thoughts of sending it at some festival or similar, but because of the corona everything is paused and we keep the economy very tight. So I can't promise it will come back, he says.