The Interrupted Honeymoon AKA The Postponed Wedding Night

The Interrupted Honeymoon AKA The Postponed Wedding Night (1941) was a theatre production by The National Stage, based on a farce by Franz Arnold and Ernst Bach. The production was performed in Ole Bull Teatret.

Egil Hjorth-Jenssen directed it.

Norma Balean played the role of the dancer, Elli Ornelli.

The last performance in the first part of the run was May 21. May 22, the theatre closed due to the World War II actor strike (see below). The theatre didn't reopen until September 6, 1941, continuing The Interrupted Honeymoon AKA The Postponed Wedding Night.

According to Knut Nygaard and Eiliv Eide's history book, Den Nationale Scene. 1931-1976 (literally: The National Stage. 1931-1976), the selection of The Interrupted Honeymoon AKA The Postponed Wedding Night enraged Josef Terboven, the German Reichskommisar in the occupied Norway "because the writers were Jewish".

Information

(Objekt ID 61852)
Object type Production
Premiere May 6, 1941
Produced by The National Stage
Based on The Interrupted Honeymoon AKA The Postponed Wedding Night by Ernst Bach, Franz Arnold
Audience Adults
Number of events 35
Language Norwegian
Keywords Farce, Theatre, 2nd World War
Running period May 6, 1941  —  September 1941
More

After the performance May 21, the theatre closed due to the World War II actor strike:

Actors made up the first professional group to get info conflict with Germans in Norway. This happened due to the strict restrictions the first year of occupation. The conflict was primarily about 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 and Leif Juster. Three of these were employed by The National Stage: Grepp, Næss and Stormoen.

Terboven personally fronted this work. He wanted to break down all resistance with power, and he threatened with strict punishments, including death penalties. The actors entered negotiations with Germans, accepting to return to work on the condition that the arrested were released. The Germans refused to negotiate and demanded unconditional capitulation. This, they got. The arrested were eventually released, the last of them in July 1942.

The actor strike in May 1941 also started a conflict between the theatre institutions and the occupants, as the theatre managers supported the actors. Theatres closed May 22 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 instated as head of the theatre. The decision led to an audience boycott of the theatre. Only Germans came to see the performances.

SOURCES:

Birkelund, Sigurd: NS og teaterlivet under okkupasjonen (literally: NS and theatre life during the occupation). Master's thesis, University of Oslo, 2014

The National Stage's repertoire database, donated by The National Stage/The Theatre Archive at the University of Bergen. Imported to the Sceneweb database 24.06.2016

Knut Nygaard and Eiliv Eide, Den Nationale Scene 1931-1976 (literally: The National Stage 1931-1976), Gyldendal Norsk Forlag 1977

Contributors (17)
Name Role
Franz Arnold – Playwright
Ernst Bach – Playwright
Egil Hjorth-Jenssen – Direction
Per Schwab – Stage design
Norma Balean – Actor (Elli Ornelli, flammedanserinne )
Hans Bille – Actor
Hans Bille – Actor (Henrik Benningkeit)
Nils-Reinhardt Christensen – Actor (Klaus Reilig)
Klara Dahl – Actor (Fru Durchnagel)
Lill Egede-Nissen – Actor (Ellen)
Joachim Holst-Jensen – Actor (Dobermann, grosserer)
Doris Johannessen – Actor (Mary, den fhv. flammedanserinne)
Bjarne Koht – Actor (Ostenwald)
Erling Lindahl – Actor (Dr. Karl Reinholdt)
Lothar Lindtner – Actor (En kelner)
Nøste Schwab – Actor (Edith)
Mary Koren Wiberg – Actor (Ida, fru Dobermann)
Performance dates
September 6, 1941Ole Bull Teatret, The National Stage New opening
May 21, 1941Ole Bull Teatret, The National Stage Show
May 6, 1941Ole Bull Teatret, The National Stage Opening night