Thetheatre of Denmark continues to thrive thanks to the many theatres inCopenhagen and across the country which put on a wide variety of Danish and foreign performances. The flagshipRoyal Danish Theatre presentsdrama,opera,ballet andmusic. Since the 18th century, Danish playwrights have been successful in attracting wide public interest.
It was in the 18th century with the plays ofLudvig Holberg (1684–1754) that Danish theatre began to prosper. Holberg, sometimes known as the DanishMolière in view of his successful satirical comedies (1722), is considered to be the founder of the Danish theatre. Plays such asJean de France andJeppe of the Hill are still performed today.[1]
Adam Oehlenschläger (1779–1850) introduced romanticism to the Danish theatre. Especially successful was hisEarl Hakon the Mighty, premiered in 1808.
The NorwegianHenrik Ibsen (1828–1906) also travelled to Copenhagen where he produced plays such asA Doll's House (1879). It deals with the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie and a woman’s struggle to emancipate herself. For Ibsen and his contemporaries, drama was not a question of entertainment but an exercise in critical commentary on the lifestyle of the times.[2] During this period, the Royal Theatre dominated the scene, but around 1850 other, to some extent more popular, theatres were established, starting with the Casino (1848) whereHans Christian Andersen produced hisOle Lukøie (1850). The Casino became popular for satirical revues in the 1870s.
In the 20th century, theatres were established in the large citiesÅrhus,Odense andAalborg as well as several in Copenhagen.
Kjeld Abell (1901–1961), the first Danish modernist playwright, wrote the successfulThe Melody That Got Lost in 1935 with productions in both Copenhagen andLondon.Kaj Munk (1898–1944), a Lutheran pastor, brought religion into his plays.Ordet (The Word) is often said to have been his best work.Carl Erik Soya (1896–1983) is remembered especially for his anti-Nazi plays such asEn Gæst (A Guest) a satire aimed against the German occupation of Denmark and in 1943,Min Farmors Hus (made into the 1984 filmGrandmother's House).
Leif Panduro (1923–1977) wrote a number of plays, some filmed or televised, criticising the middle class, the welfare state and the conflict between normal and abnormal, often questioning the views generally shared by the audience. HisI Adams verden (1973) andLouises hus (1974) are among the best Scandinavian television dramas of the 1970s.[3]
In recent years, there has been something of a revival in Danish theatre. Many new playwrights and producers have appeared. These include:
Encouraged by the success of the Danish version ofLes Misérables, a number of Danish musicals have been written and performed in Copenhagen and elsewhere.Knud Christensen, commonly known as Sebastian, was particularly successful withCyrano (1992), based onRostand's play andKlokkeren fra Notre Dame (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) (2001).Bent Fabricius-Bjerre's musicalMatador with lyrics byClemens Telling based on an earlier, highly successful television series was premiered at the newCopenhagen Opera in June 2007 to full houses.[4]