Oslo's Nationaltheatret sits at the heart of Karl Johans gate, framed by two statues that tell you exactly what it stands for. On the left, Henrik Ibsen, whose controversial plays made him the father of modern theatre. On the right, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who won the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature and wrote Norway's national anthem. The theatre opened in 1899, its pale neoclassical facade a gentle surprise along Oslo's grand parade street.

Ibsen's 1879 play A Doll's House caused such outrage that the lead actress refused to perform the original ending, where a woman walks out on her family. The theatre changed it. That story alone says a great deal about both the playwright and his times.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours trace the theatre's place in Oslo's cultural geography, connecting Ibsen and Bjørnson to the Royal Palace, the University and the Nobel tradition that still runs through this city's bones.