The Lucky Ship

Own production
Co-production: S/S Hestmanden – Norwegian war sailor museum
Duration: 60 minutes
Premiere: 9th of September, 2022
Playing dates: 10th, 11th and 16th to 18th of September, 2022
The Cultural Schoolbag: 17th to 20th of October, 2022
Tour 2023: 22nd of June – 12th of August
Cities: Kristiansand, Langesund, Horten, Moss, Oslo, Risør, Sandefjord and Mandal

World War II is in full swing. The Norwegian merchant fleet becomes a piece in a total war, and Norwegian sailors are suddenly in the middle of the heat, whether they want it or not. Our story begins when the news that the Germans have occupied Norway has just reached the crew. We follow the characters Ingvald and Oskar, two brothers-in-law who work on board the ship S/S Hestmanden. Their journey, the situations the ship and its crew end up in, and the return home, are presented through encounters between them, literally between battles.

The play is based on documents and interviews conducted by war sailors during World War II. The historical background to this piece, as well as the ships experiences, is based directly from sources taken from the Norwegian War Sailors Museum at the Vest-Agder Museum. The two main characters’ lives, experiences, and conversations with each other are fictional, but are inspired by interviews of former war sailors. The production is a collaborative project between the theatre company Kanon Produksjon and S/S Hestmanden – Norwegian War Sailor Museum at the Vest-Agder Museum, and was played on board the ship S/S Hestmanden in September 2022 and on tour summer 2023.