Du er Knut* (You are Knut)

In preparation for the production Du er Knut* (You are Knut) The rooster that was sacrificed to the Greek God of healing & medicine has gone through the documents from the trial against Rød.

On the webpage of Black Box Teater one can read the following:

"And they are no longer sure if they believe the stories. About the heroes and the crooks. And if they exist at all."

The main Norwegian encyclopaedia Store Norske Leksikon writes the following about Knut Rød:

"Knut Rød, born 1900, dead 1986, Norwegian police officer, lawyer. During the war Rød was a member of NS (National Socialism, the party collaborating with the Nazis, Sceneweb’s comment) and assistant police chief in Oslo and Aker (now the county of Akershus, Sceneweb’s comment) from 1942. He also took part in preparing the action leading to the arrest of Jews in October and November 1942. At the same time Rød helped the Norwegian resistance movement and due to his position he was able to protect police officers who were also members of the resistance. Rød was arrested in 1945 and accused of treason, but was acquitted in 1946 and anew in 1948. The acquittal in 1948 built on the argument that Rød had joined NS and the police force Stapo to work against the Germans. Rød joined the police again in 1952, working there until he retired in 1965.

The trial and the acquittal have later been controversial; central parts of the discussion have been to what degree Rød actually assisted the resistance movement and to what degree he could be held responsible for the arrests and deportation of Norwegian Jews. A controversial statue of Rød, wearing a police uniform and doing the Nazi Salute, was in 2006 exhibited at the The Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities in Oslo. The statue was made by Victor Lind."

The independent performing arts company The rooster that was sacrificed to the Greek God of healing & medicine (Norwegian name: Asklepios Hane) was established while the members studied at The National Academy of Theatre, Oslo, as a result of the five actors' wish to collaborate to create, challenge and develop dialogue. With the writer and director Øystein Stene the performers have now, after graduation, created the production Du er Knut.

Du er Knut was supported by Arts Council Norway, The Fund for Performing Artists and the Freedom of Expression foundation Fritt Ord.

Sources:

Black Box Teater, blackbox.no, 04.07.2011, http://www.blackbox.no/content/titlePresentation.php?tid=2091

Store Norske Leksikon, 16.08.2011: http://snl.no/Knut_R%C3%B8d

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

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