Teater Sesam
Teater Sesam is a private, Gothenburg-based independent theater group founded in 1987 that specializes in puppet and shadow theater for children, families, and schools. It operates two stages at Chapmans Torg, tours nationally and internationally, and runs shadow puppetry workshops and the trademarked After Dagis© family concept.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1987
- HeadquartersGöteborg, Sweden
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Teater Sesam does
Teater Sesam is a private, full-time independent theater group founded in 1987 in Gothenburg, Sweden by Nasrin Barati, specializing in puppet and shadow theater (dock- och skuggspelsteater). The organization operates a fixed venue at Chapmans Torg comprising two stages — Lorca (~75 capacity) and Harpo (~50 capacity) — along with in-house production workshops for textiles, wood, metal, painting, puppet manufacturing, and costume construction. The company produces at least one new production per year, targets children and youth audiences as its primary segment, and also serves families, schools, and adult audiences interested in artistically ambitious puppetry handling complex themes.
The company's revenue model combines ticket sales (via Kulturpunkten), venue rental to other performers, workshop fees for shadow puppetry training, and recurring government grants from Statens Kulturråd, Göteborgs Stads Kultur, and Folkuniversitetet. It supplements domestic Swedish touring with international festival appearances in Russia, Japan, Cuba, France, and Thailand, often as the only Swedish or Nordic representative. Its product portfolio includes the After Dagis© trademarked concept (theater plus pancakes for children ages 2-5), a guest performance program supporting emerging artists, and shadow puppetry workshops delivered to schools under the 'Skapande skola' framework.
Teater Sesam operates with a core team of approximately 5 full-time staff — founder/artistic director Nasrin Barati, producer/sculptor Golnosh Hosseini, composer Jonas Franke-Blom, scenographer Yifan Wang, and illustrator/animator Golshan Cowan — augmented by a recurring network of actors (Elias Ehn, Josefin Nordberg, Roman Stahlman, Douglas Hellberg) and international collaborators. The company has archived 30+ productions spanning literary adaptations and original works, won Best Experimental Performance at the 2018 World Puppet Carnival in Jekaterinburg, and maintains memberships in Teatercentrum, Unima, and Assitej. Its institutional members and grant funding make it a structurally supported cultural entity rather than a market-driven commercial enterprise.
Teater Sesam firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Teater Sesam
- Legal name
- Teater Sesam
- Website
- https://teatersesam.se
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1987
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Teater Sesam is a private, Gothenburg-based independent theater group founded in 1987 that specializes in puppet and shadow theater for children, families, and schools. It operates two stages at Chapmans Torg, tours nationally and internationally, and runs shadow puppetry workshops and the trademarked After Dagis© family concept.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Teater Sesam industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Performing Arts (Puppet and Shadow Theater)
- NAICS
- Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (71111), Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (71151)
- SIC
- Dolls & Stuffed Toys (3942), Services-Allied To Motion Picture Production (7819)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Puppetry & Marionette Theatre (MPAGABAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Children’s & Youth Theatre (MPAGABAE), Theatre Services & Design (Scenic/Costume/Props/Stage Management) (MPAGABAO)
Keywords
Where Teater Sesam is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Göteborg
- HQ country
- Sweden
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Teater Sesam business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others
Revenue model
- Ticket Sales: Revenue from public performances at the fixed venue in Göteborg and touring productions. Both individual/public tickets and school performance bookings.
- Venue Rental: Income from renting out the theater's two stages (Lorca - large stage with ~75 capacity, Harpo - smaller stage with ~50 capacity) to other artists and performers.
- Workshop Fees: Revenue from shadow puppetry workshops delivered to schools, culture houses, and private individuals at the venue and on location.
- Government Grants: Operating support from Statens Kulturråd (Swedish Arts Council), Göteborgs Stad Kultur (Gothenburg City Culture), and Folkuniversitetet. Teater Sesam is a full-time independent theater group.
- Guest Performance Hosting: Income from hosting guest performances by other artists and performers, creating a venue for new generations of artists and cultural practitioners.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | After Dagis© package |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels5 records
Teater Sesam product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Teater Sesam produces and performs live puppet and shadow theater productions at its fixed Göteborg venue and on national/international tours, with a portfolio aimed primarily at children, youth, and families. Beyond performances, the company runs shadow puppetry workshops for schools and the public, rents out its two equipped stages to other artists, hosts guest performances, and offers its trademarked After Dagisé family theater-plus-meal concept for children aged 2-5.
Product overview
Teater Sesam is a professional puppet and shadow theater company operating as a full-time independent theater group since 1987. The company offers a unified portfolio centered on live puppet and shadow theater performances for all ages, with particular focus on children and youth. Core offerings include: (1) Theater performances at their fixed venue in Gothenburg and on tour across Sweden, featuring original productions and adaptations; (2) Two venue spaces for rent - the larger Lorca stage (75 capacity) and smaller Harpo stage (50 capacity), fully equipped for various performances; (3) Shadow puppet workshops that can be booked for schools, community venues, or at Teater Sesam; (4) The patented After Dagis© concept combining theater with pancake meals for young children; and (5) A guest performance program supporting emerging artists. The company maintains workshops in puppet making, scenography, and costume design, with productions often incorporating animation, illustration, and music composition by external collaborators.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- After Dagis©: A patented concept for young children combining pancakes with theater performances for children ages 2-5 years.
Products and services
- Theater Performances
Quantifiable outcome
- Won 'Best Experimental Performance' award at The World Puppet Carnival 2018 in Jekaterinburg, Russia
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Teater Sesam
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Teater Sesam technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Teater Sesam partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Seinendan Link Setagaya SilkcoreCollaboration with Japanese theater group led by Honoh Horikawa, director and playwright from Tokyo. Included co-production of a performance that toured in Kinosaki and Tokyo in November 2017, with return visit to Göteborg in 2018.
- Possibilitas (Göteborg)coreCollaboration with Göteborg-based production company and project leader Monika Wade for comprehensive program in Cuba including two new shadow puppetry performances, workshops for Cuban stage artists, and lectures about Teater Sesam's operations.
- Ryazan State Puppet TheatreminorPrevious collaboration with Russian puppet theater and its director Valeri Shadski as guests and in co-production of one of Teater Sesam's own productions. Later collaboration hiring Russian puppet maker Sergey Mavrei for figure production.
- Business Sweden / Västra GötalandsregionencoreParticipation in the UNSHADE project led by Business Sweden and funded by Västra Götalandsregionen's culture secretariat. Project aimed to support music groups, crafts, designers, and visual artists in developing international operations. Teater Sesam presented productions 'Ringaren i Notre Dame' and 'Vägen till Bolero' at Swedish Institute in Paris.
- Teatercentrum, Unima, AssitejcoreProfessional memberships in Swedish and international theater organizations for puppetry art: Teatercentrum (Swedish), Unima (International Puppetry Association), and Assitej (International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People).
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Teater Sesam competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Figurteatret i Nordland: Norwegian puppet and figure theater producing original works and touring internationally. Comparable to Teater Sesam as a Nordic peer specializing in puppetry art with similar government-supported operating model and international festival participation.
- Teater Refleksion: Danish puppet and object theater company producing high-quality productions for young audiences with international touring. Closely comparable to Teater Sesam in artistic ambition, focus on early-years audiences, and festival circuit presence across Scandinavia.
- Dockteatern Tittut: Swedish puppet theater company based in Stockholm producing puppet and object theater for children and families. Directly comparable to Teater Sesam in art form, target audience (young children), and operating model as an independent Swedish puppet theater group.
Regional players
- Teater Nordkraft: Danish regional theater with puppetry and physical theater programming. Comparable as a Nordic performing-arts organization producing for diverse audiences including young people, though broader in scope than Teater Sesam's puppetry specialization.
- Unga Klara: Stockholm-based theater for children and young people producing ambitious, artistically challenging productions. Comparable to Teater Sesam in commitment to high-artistic-ambition children's theater, though operates as a larger municipal-stage institution rather than independent puppetry specialist.
- Backa Teater: Gothenburg-based (Skövde-born) theater company producing for young audiences with strong international reputation. Geographically and audience-overlap-comparable to Teater Sesam, though focuses on youth/drama rather than puppetry specifically.
Emerging players
- Cie Animotion: French puppet/object theater company producing work for early childhood audiences with international festival presence. Comparable to Teater Sesam in art form specialization (puppetry for very young children) and similar touring-circuit strategy across European festivals.
- Handprint Theatre International: International puppet theater producing visual, non-verbal work touring globally including Asia. Comparable to Teater Sesam in international touring pattern and focus on puppetry as accessible cross-cultural storytelling medium.
Broad incumbents
- Stadsteatern Göteborg: Gothenburg City Theater, a large municipal theater with broader performing arts programming. Comparable as a fellow Gothenburg-based theater institution serving similar regional audiences, but operates at much larger scale and broader repertoire than Teater Sesam's puppetry niche.
Others
- UNIMA (International Puppetry Association): International umbrella association for puppetry art of which Teater Sesam is a member. Relevant as ecosystem/industry body that connects peer companies, organizes festivals, and provides professional network access in the same niche.
Market position
Strengths1 record
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Teater Sesam social profiles
Digital presenceTeater Sesam financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Teater Sesam leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Teater Sesam funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Teater Sesam M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Teater Sesam
What does Teater Sesam do?
Teater Sesam produces and performs live puppet and shadow theater productions at its fixed Göteborg venue and on national/international tours, with a portfolio aimed primarily at children, youth, and families. Beyond performances, the company runs shadow puppetry workshops for schools and the public, rents out its two equipped stages to other artists, hosts guest performances, and offers its trademarked After Dagisé family theater-plus-meal concept for children aged 2-5.
Is Teater Sesam a public or private company?
Teater Sesam is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Teater Sesam founded?
Teater Sesam was founded in 1987. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Teater Sesam based?
Teater Sesam is headquartered in Göteborg, Sweden, in the Europe region.
How does Teater Sesam make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Ticket Sales are the primary driver. The others are venue Rental, workshop Fees, government Grants and guest Performance Hosting.
Who are Teater Sesam's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Figurteatret i Nordland, Teater Refleksion and Dockteatern Tittut. Regional players are Teater Nordkraft, Unga Klara and Backa Teater. Emerging players are Cie Animotion and Handprint Theatre International. Stadsteatern Göteborg is listed as a broad incumbent. UNIMA (International Puppetry Association) is listed as an others.
Does Teater Sesam have an API?
No public API is recorded for Teater Sesam.
What industry is Teater Sesam in?
Teater Sesam's product category is Performing Arts (Puppet and Shadow Theater). Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGABAK, Puppetry & Marionette Theatre, with a secondary code of MPAGABAE, Children’s & Youth Theatre. Its NAICS code is 71111 and its SIC code is 3942.