National Theatre in Northern and Eastern Europe, 1746-1900

This book chronicles the emergence of a national feeling in the theatres of Northern and Eastern Europe from the mid-eighteenth to the late-nineteenth centuries. Using original documents and sources, including architects’ plans, royal edicts, censors’ reports, contemporary journalism, directors’ blocking notes, memoirs and letters, this volume provides a chronological exploration of theatrical trends in eight countries. The documents reveal that in Denmark, Sweden and Norway the gradual development from royal patent houses and municipal theatres led to a genuinely public and Scandinavian institution. In Poland, Hungary, Bohemia and Romania, theatrical records reveal the evolution of distinctly national repertoires and organizations removed from foreign influences. Similar sources demonstrate that Russia pursued native concepts of acting and playwriting after the retreat of Napoleon that culminated in the foundation of the Moscow Art Theatre. The volume contains numerous illustrations, the source location for each document, and a substantial bibliography.