Den dagen da håret brakk* (The day the hair broke)
Den dagen da håret brakk* (The day the hair broke) (1984) was a theatre production by Familien Swane. Den dagen da håret brakk was based on a play by Terje Nordby. He started writing it in Venice, in collaboration with Dario Fo and Franca Rame. The chosen form was farce, and the theme was double standards. Through descriptions of attraction, love and sexuality, the play introduced death and sexuality as elements of danger.
Frode Rasmussen directed it.
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation covered the process in Northern Italy in December 1983, and in Oslo the spring of 1984. This report, and video documentation of the production, can be found in Performing Arts Hub Norway's video archive.
*Not yet translated into the English. The title within parentheses is the Norwegian title's literal meaning.
Information
(Objekt ID 17810)| Object type | Production |
| Premiere | May 28, 1984 |
| Produced by | |
| Based on | Den dagen da håret brakk by Terje Nordby |
| Audience | Adults |
| Language | Norwegian |
| Keywords | Theatre, Farce |
| Running period | May 28, 1984 |
Terje Nordby in the article Miraklet på Bjølsen. Tanker rundt et møte med Dario Fo (literally: The Miracle at Bjølsen. Thoughts on a meeting with Dario Fo), from Norsk dramatisk årbok 1998 (literally: Norwegian dramatic yearbook 1998):
"The autumn of '83 we had [...] an adamant, but undefined aim. We wanted to meet Dario Fo and to learn from him, in a project hopefully developing into a play. The starting point was a text I had written with basis in a theme or framework of an idea, a plot set in a landscape of prostitution and porn. [...] The result, in other words, was the first draft for a play, a kind of tragic farce, rather restricted by rules, structured chronologically. I don't remember the details, and the manuscript was forgotten at a rail station or another in Northern Italy. At the time, the collaboration with Fo had taken off. The story was fast on its way into different spheres.
Practically, his supervising function worked as follows: We met him for the sake of verbal working sessions in restaurants and hotel receptions near where he toured: Padova, Monfalcone, Trieste and other Northern Italian towns. He commented on the story, provided criticism and suggested alternative solutions. After day one, we thought that he had only said brilliant things. Naturally, we started the second day with great eagerness. He had forgotten all he had said the day before, and when we reminded him, he thought it all trivial and found greater joy in starting over, using his imagination. Now, we found this new material brilliant, as we thought about it, the previous had not been all that brilliant after all.
[...]
The spring of 1984 I went to Oslo and shut myself into a borrowed flat to finish the manuscript. [...] I sat in Bjølsen and meant to crown this whole process with Norwegian drama of a wholly new, unknown kind. That became too much. I felt paralysed. [...] All of a sudden, I felt an unstoppable urge to write a play after all, a different play. I started writing my new play, the way I wanted to, without any thought of achieving anything else than what I found interesting there and then. The characters began to live their own lives, and I let them. It took me 24 hours, food breaks included.
[...]
Afterwards, I understood that Dario Fo had taught me the most important thing I have learned from anybody: To give up writing according to a certain standard, whether the standard belongs to the audience, a political agenda, the head of the theatre, the market, the wallet, the taste of the day, the company, the critics, Arts Council Norway or the fascination for a dramatic idol."
(The text is published with permission from Terje Nordby.)
SOURCES:
The Arctic Theatre, ht.tr.no, 01.06.2013, http://www.ht.tr.no/index.php/theatre/showview?iShowID=9
Terje Nordby, mytekalenderen.no, 01.06.2013, http://mytekalender.com/review1.htm
Terje Nordby, Miraklet på Bjølsen. Tanker rundt et møte med Dario Fo (literally: The Miracle at Bjølsen. Thoughts on a meeting with Dario Fo, from Norsk dramatisk årbok 1998 (literally: Norwegian dramatic yearbook 1998)
The archive of Tramteatret, donated by Liv Aakvik. 17.04.2009
*Not yet translated into the English. The title within parentheses is the Norwegian title's literal meaning.
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Terje Nordby | – Playwright |
| Frode Rasmussen | – Direction |
| Steinar Berthelsen | – Instruction |
| Anders Rogg | – Musical direction |
| Dario Fo | – Dramaturge |
| Truls Kwetzinsky | – Stage design |
| Jon Sigurd Christensen | – Actor (Kjell Bodding (han som kan mistenkes for å ta livet av familien)) |
| Henrik Scheele | – Actor (Harald Swane) |
| Thea Stabell | – Actor (Lucie Swane) |
| Helge Winther-Larsen | – Actor (Herman August sønnen til Lucie og Harald) |
| Liv Aakvik | – Actor (Irene Lykke - en prostituert som også får et sørgelig endeligt, så å si i familiens skjød.) |
| Terje Nordby | – Musician |
| Anders Rogg | – Musician (Piano) |
| May 28, 1984 – Scala Teater | Worldwide premiere |
Erik Pierstorff, Surrealistisk teater (literally: Surreal theatre), June 5 1984, Dagbladet [Oslo]:
"The humour is so macabre within such a surreal description of reality, this must be said to represent something new in Norwegian theatre. In the way the story progresses, there is a freedom that gives the individual actors the possibilities to shine in singular scenes. They grab hold of this with eagerness. Seemingly, the play moves due to free associations, but as it progresses, it tightens, for then again to dissolve into baroque acts. [...] In the moment, I cannot think of a Norwegian performance where the element of comedy has been used in such a fruitful, daring way. [...] They are gifted persons, but I have never before seen their talents so richly in blossom. [...] People from Tramteatret are so prominent within the ensemble, it is impossible not to think of Deep Sea Thriller. That became a water-divide in a certain development within Norwegian theatre. This production has the potential to do the same, as there is so much new within it, though with a different feeling for the medium. Nobody who wants to take part in the ongoing conversation, can admit to not having seen Den dagen da håret brakk* (The day the hair broke)."
*Not yet translated into the English. The title within parentheses is the Norwegian title's literal meaning.