Det forenede dramatiske Selskab

Det forenede dramatiske Selskab (The United Dramatic Society) was a dramatic society founded in 1803 in Trondheim, Norway. Its members consisted mainly of civil servants, higher officers and merchants. The Society was active until 1829.

History

The first public reference to the United Dramatic Society was a newspaper advertisement on November 1st 1803, calling the members to a General Assembly. The Society's laws were then printed in 1804. Only men were eligible for membership, and new members had to be proposed and approved individually. Women could only participate by invitation. For the first few years, the Society's performances were, as a general rule, only open to other society members. As a result, the repertory of this period is largely unknown.

The first known venue for the United Dramatic Society was a rented town house in Prinsens gate (Prince's Street), formerly the property of town musician Johan Daniel Berlin (1714–1787), who had given public concerts there. Today, this site houses the restaurant area of the municipal theatre, Trøndelag Teater. The Society bought the property in 1811, but possibly as a result of hard times after the outbreak of war between Denmark-Norway and England in 1807, no further steps towards building a new theatre were made at the time. In the war years, the Society occasionally gave public benefit performances.

In 1814, as the Napoleonic wars were coming to an end, the United Dramatic Society took the initative to fund a new theatre building. In the interim that followed, the Society was reorganized, and a new set of laws printed. A major change from the first set of laws, was that women were now eligible as full members.

In 1816, the new theatre was inaugurated. This stage, now enclosed by a larger building, remains Norway's oldest theatrical stage (Gamle Scene). In spite of several later redecorations and changes, it still boasts its original raked stage and double set of proscenium columns.

After 1816, the Society's performances were adverticed publicly, with the result that the repertory is better known. In general, the repertory much reflects that of other Scandinavian and European theatres at the time, with the bourgeois dramas and comedies of August von Kotzebue and August Iffland gradually giving way to the new generation of Continental, Romantic dramatists. The only Danish-Norwegian dramatist continuously performed throughout the 19th century, was the Molière-inspired Ludvig Holberg (1684–1754).

In 1829, The United Dramatic Society was dissolved, as were several other dramatic societies in Norway in this period. For the next few decenniums, professional touring Danish theatre companies were important in giving new life to the theatre in Trondheim, as well as in other Norwegian towns.

References

Liv Jensson: Teaterliv i Trondhjem, 1800-1835: De dramatiske selskapene. Oslo: Gyldendal, 1965

Annabella Skagen: Fra grevens gård til Prinsens gate: Teater i Trondhjem 1790-1814. Ph.d. thesis, NTNU 2015.