As soon as active combat following the invasion was over, the theatres reopened, mostly with a repertoire consisting of light entertainment, so as not to provoke the occupiers. Chat Noir was first, performing the revue Kom til Chat Noir* (Come to Chat Noir) as early as 17 April. The next day, Centralteatret and Carl Johan Teatret opened, with the comedies Baldevin's Wedding and The Girl in the Limousine respectively. They were followed by The National Theatre on 26 April, with Peer Gynt; The National Stage on 3 May, with the operetta The Yankee Princess; The Norwegian Theatre on 89 May, with the comedy Godvakker-Maren* (Good Pretty Maren); Det Nye Teater (literally: The New Theatre) on 13 May, with the comedy Hvis jeg hadde penger* (If I had money); and Komediateatret on 17 May, with the comedy Like barn leker best* (Similar children play best together).

At Trøndelag Theatre, however, the tone was different. The theatre opened on 21 May, with the freshly written Co-optimistenes kabaret-revy* (The co-optimists' cabaret revue). The revue contained topical and controversial content, with references to the occupying forces. This was the first of many artistic protests against the Germans from the head of the theatre at the time, Henry Gleditsch. During the next year and a half, Gleditsch continued to defend the theatres' freedom of expression and other rights.

By the summer of 1940, all theatre productions were under police surveillance, and censored by the Germans. Public statements considered as disturbing the public order were not permitted. The theatres were organised under the Nazi ministry of culture and public information, which was established on 25 September 1940, and was in operation for the rest of the occupation.

At this time, theatre was considered as an important cultural activity, also in Germany. It was thus considered important to keep theatres running, even if only to legitimise the powerful position of the Norwegian National Socialist party, called Nasjonal Samling (NS), in Norwegian society. Its hold of the Norwegian cultural field grew increasingly strict, and on July 1941, the National directorate for theatres was founded, establishing full control of Norwegian theatres. All events, texts and employment had to be pre-approved. All employees had to have work permits, and members of the National Socialist party watched rehearsals.

There is little to indicate that NS required the theatres to perform Nazi propaganda. Therefore repertoire was not what caused the most problems for the theatres during the war. Most of them continued their activity mostly as before, with a repertoire of comedies and operettas. But Norwegians became expert at including ambiguous lines in the scripts. One of few politically charged plays performed was Finn Bø's satire Halmstrået eller Teatersjefen som ble vekk* (The straw or The disappeared head of the theatre). However, the play was only performed during the first months of the war, until the ministry of culture and public information was established towards the end of September 1940.

Theatre conflicts, May 1941 - October 1942

In Norway, actors were among the first professional groups to come into conflict with the Germans, as a result of strict restrictions during the first year of occupation. The conflict primarily involved actors at The National Theatre, who refused to accept broadcasting assignments. Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation was under NS control, and actors were required to accept broadcasting assignments during their spare time, to read Nazi propaganda. A resistance group at The National Theatre fronted the opposition. Actors who refused were denied work permits. This situation led to an actor strike, starting May 21, 1941, in Oslo, and the next day in Bergen and Trondheim. 15 actors and elected spokesmen for them were arrested, including Harald Schwenzen, Georg Løkkeberg, Sverre Næss, Hans Stormoen, Ole Grepp, Henki Kolstad, Erik Melbye Brekke, Rolf Christensen and Leif Juster.

Josef Terboven, the Reichskommisar in Norway, personally fronted this work. He wanted to break down all resistance with power, and he threatened strict punishments, including death penalties. The actors entered negotiations with Germans, accepting to return to work on the condition that the prisoners be released. The Germans refused to negotiate and demanded unconditional capitulation. They achieved this and the prisoners were later released.

During the winter of 1941, theatre managers had been in several conflicts with the occupiers, due to the Nazis’ wish to use theatres as part of political activity. The managers supported the actors during the actor strike in May and June 1941: they closed the theatres on 22 May and refused to apply for a permit to run, as NS demanded. The conflict ended when the board and management of The National Theatre were arrested and the NS member Gustav Berg-Jæger was installed as head of the theatre. The decision led to an audience boycott of the theatre.

The occupiers' censorship and control of Norwegian theatre continued, and on 7 October 1942 the head of Trøndelag Theatre, Henry Gleditsch, was executed, an act that shocked the theatrical community. NS made the Nazi Johan Barclay-Nitter head of the theatre after the execution of Gleditsch. The Norwegian audience then boycotted the theatre.

Later the same month, Gleditsch's friend Knut Hergel, who headed The Norwegian Theatre in Oslo, held an eulogy over Gleditsch, in which he also expressed his opinion of the execution. As a result he was forced to flee to Sweden, and he crossed the border the night between 20 and 21 October. NS instated the Nazi Cally Monrad as head of The Norwegian Theatre.

The last years

Norwegian audiences boycotted the three theatres under NS control, which greatly affected the theatres’ economy. On 19 October 1944, Trøndelag Theatre had to close, and on 13 December The Norwegian Theatre followed suit. At The National Theatre, several actors had also left the theatre, and on 19 January 1945, the theatre had to close due to poor economy.

As far as we know, only these three theatres were headed by people instated by the Nazis. Other theatres were subject to censorship, but audiences still came to see the productions, which meant that they were far better off economically than the theatres controlled by NS.

Deutsches Theater im Norwegen

The Germans established their own, publicly owned opera in Oslo. Deutsches Theater, or "The National Theatre's new stage", as it was also called, was established as a propaganda measure to win the affection of the Norwegian people through the dissemination of German culture. The order to establish the theatre was given by Josef Terboven  on 1 January 1941, after discussions with propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. The first production was performed at The National Theatre on 22 Apri 1941. On 7 June 1941, Deutsches Theater im Norwegen opened its own venue, located in Stortingsgata 16, the former home of Casino Theatre. The opening performance was the operetta The Land of Smiles. All the musicians at the theatre were Norwegian, whereas the soloists had been brought from Germany.

Deutsches Theater im Norwegen was closed in 1944, as the costs of war to Germany costs of war meant that everything considered a luxury had to be cut. The German artists who had been connected to the theatre were moved to the front lines, or back to Germany.

The liberation

Norway was liberated on 8 May1945, and the national theatre directorate and the Nazi ministry of culture and public information were immediately shut down.

The National Stage was the first theatre to open its doors after liberation. It opened on 12 May, with the Italian opera The Troubadour by Verdi. This was what was in rehearsal at the time, and the theatre did not have anything more appropriate ready for performance. Despite being a high-quality production, the head of the theatre was criticised for the choice.

On 16 May Det Nye Teater (literally: The New Theatre) opened with the world premiere of Gunnar Heiberg's comedy Kjærlighet til nesten* (Neighbourly love). Centralteatret did not want to continue the run of the production it had performed since early March. It closed on 7 May, and reopened on 17 May with the newly written revue Festprogram mai 1945* (Gala program May 1945). The same day, The Norwegian Theatre opened with its poetry production 17. mai 1945* (May 17, 1945). In the playbill, the Norwegian text for Elias Blix' national hymn God Bless Our Precious Homeland was printed, along with an overview of the Norwegian poems performed.

On 7 June, Carl Johan Teatret opened with the revue Faren over* (Danger over), with newly written texts by Fridtjof Mjøen and Egil Hagen. The National Theatre opened on 8 June, with the first part of Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's Sigurd the Bad. Trøndelag Theatre wasn't able to reopen before 2 October, when they premiered Ibsen's Lady Inger.

Komediateatret in Bergen was closed shortly after the liberation of Norway, after it turned out that its head, Lars Nygard, was a member of NS. He had kept this a secret to his staff throughout the war. The theatre reopened eleven months later on 10 April 1946, headed by Alv Hordnes, with the drama Kven dømer* (Who judges).

Studioteatret

During World War II, there was a special underground movement within Norwegian theatre in the capital, as The Norwegian Actors' Equity Association's subdivision for young actors worked with Stanislavski's system. The company usually met at Jens Bolling's home. He and Liv Strømsted had taken the initiative to the work. They had worked regularly during the years of the war, and were ready to launch the new Studioteatret after the liberation of Norway. Studioteatret was an important signal that a new generation of theatre artists could now express themselves freely after five years of occupation. The working methods and acting style of the company, based on Stanislavski's system, became dominant in Norwegian theatre after the war. This also later laid the foundation for The National Academy of Theatre.

*Not yet translated into the English. The title within parentheses is the Norwegian title's literal meaning.