Carl Gottfried Seuerling (1727-1795) was a German born, Swedish stage actor and theater director. He was the director of the Seuerling theater Company in 1768-93 and as such the leader of one of only two professional Swedish language theater companies in Sweden of the era.

Life

Carl Seuerling was originally from Germany and arrived to Sweden as the leader of a travelling theater company in 1760. He married the Swedish actress

Margareta Seuerling Margaret(h)a Seuerling née ''Lindahl'' (1747–1820) was a Swedish actress and Theatre director in a travelling theatre company, perhaps the most known travelling actress of her time in Scandinavia, active in both Sweden and Finland. She was on ...

(1747–1820) in 1768 and took over the theater company of her father,

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 ...

(1712–1792). The Seuerling travelling theater company performed all over Sweden and Finland, and was in many parts they visited the first theater performing. Historically, they have not been described as a theater company of great quality - they often experienced a shortage of staff, inexperienced actors and performed in conditions which did not give the chance of high quality scenery, the strong German accent of Carl Seuerling was caricatured, and anecdotes of failed performances circulated, particularly among the upper classes. However, these judgement are likely overreactions from an elite audience used to the theatres in the capital; in the provincial press, the company are often given positive reviews, and they were popular among the public in the towns and the countryside in which they toured, playing a pioneering role in Swedish theater history. Seuerling introduced the works of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

on the Swedish stage by staging the first performance of

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

at the Egges theater in

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...

5 August 1776, with himself and his wife in the main parts. In 1793 Carl Seuerling left his theater to Johan Peter Lewenhagen (1770-1832). However, after his death in 1795, his wife took over the company. Seuerling had seven children. He was the father of Carl Fredrik Seuerling (d. 1831), the actor Gustaf Wilhelm Seuerling, the school teacher Gottfrid Ferdinand Seuerling (1775-1826), the actress Carolina Seuerling (1769-1821), the musician

Charlotta Seuerling Charlotta Antonia "Charlotte Antoinette" Seuerling (1782/1784 – 25 September 1828), was a blind Swedish concert singer, harpsichordist, composer and poet, known as "The Blind Song-Maiden". She was active in Sweden, Finland and Russia. Her las ...

and the governess Gustafva Margaretha Seuerling (1786-1863).

References

Other sources

* Schöldström, Birger (1889). Seuerling och hans "comædietroupp" : ett blad ur svenska landsortsteaterns historia. Stockholm. Libris 281714 {{DEFAULTSORT:Seuerling, Carl 1727 births 1795 deaths Swedish theatre directors 18th-century Swedish male actors Age of Liberty people 18th century in Turku 18th-century theatre managers