I want to go home to the people – musical theatre (school performances)

A performance with Susanna Wallumrød, Helga Guren and Stina Stjern. 

This is a performance that is performed for school classes during the day, but it is possible to purchase tickets.

The story of Gunvor Hofmo and Ruth Maier is a dramatic and harrowing story about young love, the right to love, the right to exist and the fight against fascism. It is about losing, losing everything and trying to continue living. Gunvor Hofmo was a rebel, a rebel with words, a politically conscious, well-read and gifted person. One of the first in Norway to live in an open homosexual cohabitation at a time when this was prohibited by law.

“I want to go home to people – musical theatre” is a performance where Gunvor Hofmo and Ruth Maier meet again after everything that has happened, and try to reconstruct what it was that actually happened. Through memories, dreams, hopes and fantasies they get closer to each other again. Together with scenography, light, sound and music, Susanna Wallumrød, Helga Guren and Stina Moltu give us an insight into Gunvor’s poems, Susanna’s songs, and the story of Gunvor and Ruth. 

Already at school and at a young age, Gunvor distinguished herself as a good writer. She met Ruth Maier in the fall of 1940. Ruth was a Jewish refugee from Austria who came to Norway in 1939. Gunvor and Ruth became friends, and eventually lovers. Ruth was deported together with the other female Jews in November 1942 on the ship Donau. She was killed in the gas chamber on December 1 of the same year. But Gunvor knew nothing about this. Gunvor's loss and grief marked her throughout her life, and it marked her poetry. For Gunvor became a writer, she wrote profound and moving poems about being human. She debuted in 1946 with the collection "Jeg vil hjem til mensens" (I want to go home to people) and published four collections over the next nine years. She struggled to process the suffering of the war and the loss of Ruth Maier, and had what we would today call post-traumatic stress disorder, with subsequent psychotic episodes. Gunvor Hofmo was admitted to Gaustad Psychiatric Hospital repeatedly and eventually had a stay at the hospital that spanned many years.

She distilled grief, loss and loneliness; the brutality of reality, in her poetry. Hofmo holds a unique position in Norwegian literary history, with her life and her poetry.

About the athletes:

Susanna Wallumrød is a critically acclaimed artist, musician and composer, also known by the stage name Susanna. She has released nineteen albums, toured nationally and internationally since 2003, and received numerous awards, such as three Spellemann prizes, the Radka Toneff Memorial Prize and the EDVARD Prize. In 2011 she released the album “Jeg vil hjem til mensens” Susanna sings Gunvor Hofmo. The performance is based on parts of this album.

Helga Guren is an award-winning performing artist, musician and singer with education from, among others, the Norwegian Theatre Academy and the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music. Employed at Rogaland Teater, recipient of the Hedda and Kosmorama awards, as well as a number of prestigious awards and glowing reviews for her leading role in Lilja Ingolfdottir's debut film "Elskling".

Stina Stjern is a renowned artist, musician and composer from Namsos, with education from the Jazzlinja in Trondheim, and extensive experience as a performer in her own and other people's projects. Co-creator/performer in Teater nonSTOP (formerly) DNA?AND?, Susanna & the Brotherhood of Our Lady, Hilma Nikolaisen and Thea and the Wild. Recently released solo album “Vivid Peace Restored” with cassette compositions.

Mine Nilay Yalcin is an award-winning and active director, playwright and performer with a degree from KhiO. She received the Hedda Prize for Best Stage Text in 2023 for Ivars Kro, and has had great success with the street performance Sirkus Grønland. Mine has created several performances for young people, including BLIKK and Asfaltpuls.

Target group : From 16 years old

Venue: Pilotscenen

Duration: 60 minutes

Cast:

Artistic director, musical director and idea: Susanna Wallumrød

Performers and co-creators: Susanna Wallumrød, Helga Guren and Stina Moltu

Text: Mine Nilay Yalcin, adapted by artistic team

Eye from the outside: Mine Nilay Yalcin

Composers: Susanna Wallumrød and Stina Moltu 

Scenography and costumes: Thale Kvam Olsen 

Lighting design: Ane Reiersen

Sound design: Espen Høydalsvik

Producer: Ingrid Marie Stokke 

Partners: DKS Oslo and Kloden theater

Photo: Anne Valeur

The performance is supported by the Directorate of Culture, Fri stage art, the Fritt Ord Foundation, the Bergesen Foundation, DKS Oslo, the Sparebank Foundation, FFUK and the Municipality of Oslo.

Friday, April 11, 2025

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