''Reisen til Julestjernen'' (Journey to the Christmas Star) is a Norwegian play by Sverre Brandt from 1924. It was performed for the first time on

Saint Stephen's Day Saint Stephen's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Stephen, is a Christian saint's day to commemorate Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr or protomartyr, celebrated on 26 December in Western Christianity and 27 December in Eastern Chri ...

(December 26), 1924. The play holds the record for the most performances at the National Theatre in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

; its 500th performance took place in January 1962. Brandt used the well-known Christmas carol "

Silent Night "Silent Night" (german: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht", links=no, italic=no) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an ...

" as a theme for the play.

Johan Halvorsen Johan Halvorsen (15 March 1864 – 4 December 1935) was a Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist. Life Born in Drammen, he was an accomplished violinist from a very early age and became a prominent figure in Norwegian musical life. He r ...

composed the music for the play. The play has also been performed at many other venues in Norway and abroad.

Film adaptations

Brandt's play was adapted as the film '' Reisen til julestjernen'' in 1976. The film was directed by

Ola Solum Ola Solum (17 July 1943 – 28 June 1996)"Ola Solum"
''

Hanne Krogh Hanne Krogh (born 24 January 1956) is a Norwegian singer and actress from Haugesund and Oslo. Krogh is among the most selling record artists in Norway ever and is internationally well known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with Elisab ...

Knut Risan Knut Risan (19 February 1930 – 1 February 2011) was a Norwegian actor. He was born in Trondheim, and made his stage debut at Nationaltheatret in 1956. He was employed here until 1998, and had guest appearances at the Norwegian National Opera, D ...

, and

Bente Børsum Bente Børsum (born 21 June 1934) is a Norwegian actress, probably best known for her roles in the movies "''Mors hus''" (1974) and "''Reisen til julestjernen''" (1976). Børsum had her debut in the movie "''Jakten''" in 1959, and worked at Os ...

. Another film version was made in 2012, directed by

Nils Gaup Nils Gaup (born 12 April 1955) is a Sámi film director from Norway. Career Gaup was born in Kautokeino, Finnmark County in Northern Norway. He first intended to become an athlete but from 1974 to 1978 he went to drama school and studied at the ...

and starring Vilde Marie Zeiner,

Agnes Kittelsen Agnes Elisabet Hilden Kittelsen (born 20 May 1980 in Kristiansand) is a Norwegian actress. Biography Agnes Kittelsen is known for her role as Anneli in the TV-series ''Skolen'' (2004), as the title character's wife Tikken in the 2008 film '' ...

, and Anders Baasmo Christiansen. The film versions of the play have been broadcast by

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

since the 1990s.

References

{{Italic title Norwegian plays adapted into films 1924 plays