"Fram" ("Forward") was the arctic exploration vessel of the Norwegian polar explorer turned humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen. The play, named after his ship, is about "Fritdjof Nansen who, with his suicidal companion, [Hjalmar] Johansen, makes a bid on foot for the North Pole in the 1890s." Later, in 1922, Nansen was a central character in the famine relief in Russia, and became in Tony Harrison's words "the first celebrity fund-raiser." Maybe it is a Norwegian national character trait that we like to bask in our former heroes' glory. Anyway, it is very nice to see that a story like this is put on the stage abroad.
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