In 1922,[1] one year before Verdens Gang went defunct,[3] he left Norway for France but continued to write for Norwegian newspapers and magazines.

[5] Non-cooperative members of the National Theatre board of directors—literary historian Francis Bull, publisher Harald Grieg and banker Johannes Sejersted Bødtker—were arrested by the Nazi authorities in 1941.

[6][7][8] With a new, Nazi-friendly board in place, Normann chose to resign as director, returning only after the liberation of Norway in 1945.

He had also chaired the Association of Norwegian Theatre Directors from 1936 to 1941, but did not return to this position.

[2] In 1954 he released his second and last book, editing the festschrift for the 25th anniversary of Det Nye Teater.