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THE AMERICAN-SC AN DIN AVIAN REVIEW 
The Royal Theatre in 1830, Holberg’s Comedy, “Jacob von Thyboe,” 
Being Staged. From a Painting by Chr. Z. Christensen 
presented. Within a few years Hoi berg' wrote over twenty comedies, 
and even it he often borrowed from the world s greatest dramatic writ¬ 
ers, from Plautus to Moliere, his humor and satire, his objective real¬ 
ism and local imagination, were entirely his own. They bear an in¬ 
delible Danish stamp, and this is the reason why they are still read and 
played. Oehlenschlager was right when he wrote: “If Copenhagen 
were to be levelled with the ground and, after centuries, Holbergs 
comedies alone were excavated, we should know the city as well as we 
know the Roman era from Herculaneum and Pompeii.” 
Without a theatre there can be no interpretation of the human 
character. During the reign of pietism under Christian VI the art 
ot the theatre disappeared in Denmark, and this is one of the reasons 
why that period (1730-1746) now appears to us under a shadow of 
gloom and dullness. But when Frederik V was elected king, the atti¬ 
tude towards many things changed and before the year of “mourning” 
was over, the organist Thielo succeeded in obtaining permission to pro¬ 
duce plays in the Danish language in Copenhagen. The productions 
began in April, 1747, in a meeting hall in LaMerstrsede, and again 
the troupe of actors consisted mainly of students, though none of those 
from previous years were among them. After having played before 
His Majesty at a festival in Holtegaard during the summer of that 
year, the company was presented with a plot in Kongens Nytorv, 
where in 1748 the second Danish stage was opened in the presence of 
the royal family. It was with this theatre that Ludvig Holberg in 
his old age was connected in the capacity of literary adviser and judge, 
accepting or rejecting those who were candidates for players. Before 
his death, in 1754, all his comedies with the exception of four had been 
