Comediehuset (The Comedy House) or Sillgateteatern (The Herring-Street Theatre) was a Swedish theatre, active in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

from 1779 until 1833. It was the first permanent Public theatre in Gothenburg and the only one until 1816. It was located at the corner of Sillgatan, the Herring-street (now Postgatan) and Nedre Kvarnbergsgatan.

History

Background

Prior to the foundation of the first theater, travelling theatre companies had visited Gothenburg, the first one being recorded in 1696. They were foreign, usually from Germany, but by the 1750s, the Swedish theater company of

Peter Lindahl Peter Lindahl (1712 in Karlskrona – 19 December 1792 in Ånstad, Örebro), was a Swedish stage actor and theatre director. He belonged to the most known of the pioneer generation of actors at the first Swedish theatre. He was the director of t ...

regularly visited the town. During the 1770s, amateur theater became popular among the wealthy city elite due to the theater interest of

Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...

, and the family of Alströmer and Hall staged amateur theater and became patrons of theater. In about 1775,

Patrik Alströmer Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

and his brother

Clas Alströmer Baron Clas Alströmer (9 August 1736 – 5 March 1794) was a Swedish naturalist who was a student of Carl Linnaeus at Uppsala University. From 1760 to 1764 he traveled throughout Southern Europe, collecting plants for Linnaeus. He established a bot ...

, had a proper theater building constructed, known as the Comedy House. Originally of wood, it was rebuilt in stone in 1782. This was to become the 4th public theater in Sweden, after

Björngårdsteatern Björngårdsteatern ('Bear's Yard Theater'), also called Christian Thums Commedi-huus ('Christian Thum's Comedy-house') and Theums Spelehus ('Theum's Play-house'), was a theatre in Stockholm in Sweden, active between 1640 and 1655. It was possibly ...

(1640) and

Bollhuset Bollhuset, also called (The Big Ball House), (Ball House Theater), and Gamla Bollhuset (Old Ball House) at various times, was the name of the first theater in Stockholm, Sweden; it was the first Swedish theater and the first real theater buildin ...

(1667) in Stockholm, and the second outside of the capital, after

Egges teater Egges Teater ('Egge's Theatre') was a historic theatre in Norrköping in Sweden, active between 1762 and 1798. It was the first theatre in Sweden outside the capital of Stockholm. In the 18th-century, Norrköping was the third city in Sweden, and t ...

in Norrköping (1762), and prior to Spektakelhuset in Karlskrona and Spektakelhuset in Gävle (both founded in 1784). This was a part of a great enthusiasm and development of the theatre had begun in the country after King

had founded the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side ...

in 1773. Many theaters were founded in smaller cities around Sweden in the 18th-century, but Comediehuset was one of few to have success enough to last past a few years.

Permanent theatre

It is not exactly known when the theater was first used. Likely, it was used by travelling theater companies from the start. From 1779, however, the building was used by the theater company Gemenasiska sällskapet. It was managed by, in succession,

Johan von Blanc Johan von Blanc, born Michel Le Blanc (France, 1738 - Karlskrona, Sweden, 21 January 1796), was a French actor and acrobat active in Sweden. He was the leader of the travelling theater ('Gemenasian Company'), and the director of the first perman ...

(1779-86); Gustaf Simson (1786-87) and finally by

Lovisa Simson Lovisa Concordia Simson, née ''Kliecnik'' or ''Lindström'' (1746 – 26 February 1808), was a Swedish theater director. She was the managing director of the theater '' Comediehuset'' in Gothenburg between 1787 and 1792. She was the first female t ...

(1787-92) in companionship with

Andreas Widerberg Andreas Widerberg (28 October 1766- 25 April 1810) was a Swedish stage actor. He belonged to the elite of the pioneer generation actors of the Royal Dramatic Theatre. He was famous for his roles as hero and lover and noticed for his attractive lo ...

(1786-90). The standard of the Comediehuset was considered high. The theater's outside the capital was not as closely guarded by the authorities, and controversial plays often had premier sooner in Gothenburg, Karlskrona and Norrköping earlier than in Stockholm. ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'' had its premier in Sweden in Comediehuset in 1786, and ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' in 1787, much sooner than in the

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The the ...

in Stockholm. Comediehuset also arranged public masquerade balls, concerts, opera and ballet, and had its own restaurant. Travelling guests artists also performed there, often foreign, such as French pantomime artists, Italian Opera and English circus artists.

Later history

In 1792, the theater was dissolved. However, it continued to be used by travelling theater companies. From 1793 until 1800, it was used by the company of

Johan Anton Lindqvist Johan Anton Lindqvist (25 December 1759 - 17 September 1833) was a Swedish stage actor and theater director. Biography Lindqvist was born at Ystad, Sweden. He was active in the theater party of Carl Seuerling Carl Gottfried Seuerling (1727-17 ...

, during which it in effect continued as a permanent theater. The following years, it was temporarily used by a succession of theater companies. From 1810 until 1816, it was again permanently used by

, until the building was deemed unsuitable and Lindqvist moved his theater to the second theater in Gothenburg, the newly established ''

Segerlindska teatern Segerlindska teatern ('Segerlind Theatre') was a theater in Gothenburg, active between 1816 and 1892. It was also known as ''Nya teatern'' ('New Theatre'), ''Stora teatern'' ('Grand Theatre') and (after the foundation of the Grand Theatre) as '' ...

'' (1816–1892), which was also called Stora teatern and Mindre teatern (from 1864), which in its turn was replaced by '' Stora Teatern'', founded in 1859. After repairs, Comediehuset was temporarily used for some performances until it was closed in 1833. The empty building burnt down 13 March 1867.

References

Manne Ekman, GP.se, ''Stora Teatern'', 2002-08-28
* Wilhelm Berg: Anteckningar om Göteborgs äldre teatrar / Band 2. 1794-1816 (1896-1900) * Wilhelm Berg: Anteckningar om Göteborgs äldre teatrar / Band 1. 1690-1794 (1896-1900) * Wilhelm Berg: Anteckningar om Göteborgs äldre teatrar / Band 3. 1816-1833 (1896-1900) {{coord missing, Sweden Former theatres in Sweden 18th century in Gothenburg History of theatre 1779 establishments in Sweden 19th century in Gothenburg Cultural history of Sweden Theatres completed in 1779