Herøya 1943 tells the story of the deadly US bomb attack on July 24, 1943 and the events leading up to it – Hydro’s collaboration with Nazi Germany on the construction of the light metal industry on Herøya.
Herøya 1943 tells the story of the deadly US bomb attack on July 24, 1943 and the events leading up to it – Hydro’s collaboration with Nazi Germany on the construction of the light metal industry on Herøya.
What happens to a society that is lured or forced into a fatal armament venture? We follow the employees and forced laborers at the light metals plant at Norsk Hydro and I. G. Farben on Herøya as well as employees and visitors at Hydro’s representative building Admini and soldiers in the SS Guard battalion guarding the plant.
Herøya 1943 follows the events from Meierislaget 1933 (Battle at the dairy 1933) and is produced with a large ensemble of professionals and amateurs alike. Herøya 1943 is the second installment of a trilogy from director and screenwriter Tor Arne Ursin on the political and social conflicts in the Porsgrunn throughout the most dramatic years in our history.
After being corona-postponed in both 2020 and 2021, Herøya 1943 was finally premiered on 1 June 2022 and was shown 14 times at the Maritime Museum in Porsgrunn.
The press about Herøya 1943:
“Grenland Friteater manages what no one else in Norway can: to put on a historical play in a big city and make it a success. Tor Arne Ursin’s play about the bombing of Herøya 1943 leaves little doubt about who the heroes were, but the question is who really was the enemy.” – Marianne Solberg, TA