There have been angry reactions in Norway to plans by the Copenhagen Café Teatret theatre to produce a play in which the ‘manifesto’ of the Norwegian man who murdered 77 people in Oslo and Utøya is to be read out.

Ragnar Eikeland, who leads the support group for relatives of those who died in Anders Behring Breivik’s killing spree on July 22, 2011 has demanded that the project be stopped.

“This is so offensive that words fail me. It will be an extra burden for us to know that actors will be acting it out while the court case is under way,” Eikeland says adding: “No-one should do anything to spread Breivik’s views.”

Theatre Manager Erik Ulfsby of the Norske Teater in Oslo has also reacted strongly to the Danish plans and in particular over plans to use Breivik’s manifesto.

“Breivik’s main goal was to spread the message in his manifesto – something he did by killing all those people. He managed to do that. Giving even more attention to the manifesto is acting like happy idiots who dance to Breivik’s tune,” Ulfsby says.

Café Teatrets artistic manager Christian Lollike disagrees.

“It was a terrible tragedy and Anders Behring Breivik’s way of executing people was gruesome. But the thought processes behind the actions are not unique. It is an expression of a politically ideological standpoint. It can happen again,” says Lollike.

But Ulfsby rebuffs the argument saying: “Lollike’s argument is a bad excuse designed to draw attention to his own project.”

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