Christiania Offentlige Theater ('Christiania Public Theatre') or ''Det Strømbergske Teater'' ('Strömberg Theatre') was a historic theatre in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

in Norway, active between 1827 and 1835. It was the first public theatre in Oslo and in Norway, and the predecessor of the

Christiania Theatre Christiania Theatre, or ''Kristiania Theatre'', was Norway's finest stage for spoken drama from 4 October 1836 (opening date) to 1 September 1899. It was located at Bankplassen by the Akershus Fortress, in central Christiania. It was the firs ...

. The theatre was founded by the Swedish theatre director

Johan Peter Strömberg Johan Peter Strömberg (19 August 1773 – 20 September 1834) was a Swedish stage actor, dancer and theatre director. He was the founder of the first public theatre and acting school in Oslo, Norway. Biography Johan Peter Strömberg was bor ...

. With the exception of the unsuccessful attempt of

Martin Nürenbach Martin Nürenbach or ''Nurembach'' (unknown – 1780) was a German acrobat, stage actor, dancer and equilibrist active in Sweden, Norway and Finland. He was a pioneer in Norwegian theater history by founding the first public theater in Oslo in t ...

in 1772, there was no public theatre in Oslo or anywhere in Norway prior to 1827. Theatre was performed by foreign travelling theatre companies, or privately by ''

Det Dramatiske Selskab Det Dramatiske Selskab is the name for several Norwegian amateur theatre drama troupes. These troupes were the first permanent theatre troupes in the cities of Norway. The period between 1780–1830 is described by many as ''the age of the dramatic ...

''. Strömberg wished to establish a professional public theatre in Norway, with professional native actors. He obtained a theater permit from the Danish crown, and founded the first dramatic school in 1825 in order to train the first group of native actors. On 30 January 1827, the theatre was inaugurated with a performance of Strömberg's students, the pioneer group of Norwegian actors. However, the Norwegian actors was not considered trained enough to meet the standards of the audience, and Strömberg was forced to engage trained actors from Denmark. On 4 November 1827, Strömberg performed his play ''Fredsfesten'' in praise of the unpopular Swedish-Norwegian Union, which attracted great criticism. In the spring of 1828, Strömberg was declared bankrupt, rented the theatre and the theatre permit to one of his Danish actors, Jens Lang Bøcher, and returned to Sweden. Jens Lang Bøcher replaced almost all of the Norwegian staff with Danes, allowing only five Norwegians to remain. On 22 June 1832, Strömberg sold the theatre to the director

Carl Anton Saabye Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...

, after which it was renamed to Christiania Offentlige Theater. The first opera performed in public in Norway, ''Deux mots'' by

Nicolas Dalayrac Nicolas-Marie d'Alayrac (; bapt. 13 June 175326 November 1809), nicknamed the Musician poet, more commonly Nicolas Dalayrac, was a French composer of the Classical period. Intended for a military career, he made the acquaintance of many mu ...

, was performed here in 1831, directed by

August Schrumpf August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

with

Augusta Smith Augusta Schrumpf, née Smith (19 November 1813 – 7 January 1900) was a Norwegian dramatic actress and operatic soprano. She was the prima donna of the national stage of Norway in the first half of the 19th century. She belonged to the pioneer t ...

in the main role. The theatre burned down on 5 November 1835, after which the theatre company performed in the house of the ''Det Dramatiske Selskab'' until the

was inaugurated on 4 October 1837.

References

* Blanc, Tharald Høyerup:
Christiania theaters historie 1827-1877
', J.W. Cappelen Christiania * Næss, Trine. (2009, 13. februar). Johan Peter Strömberg. I Norsk biografisk leksikon. Hentet 11. September 2018 fra https://nbl.snl.no/Johan_Peter_Str%C3%B6mberg.

* Forhandlinger i Anledning det Forefaldne i Christiania offentlige Skuespilhuus den 4de November 1827, 1828 {{Coord, 59.9160, 10.7425, region:NO-03, format=dms, display=none 19th century in Oslo Former theatres in Norway 1827 in Norway 1835 in Norway 1827 establishments in Europe 1835 disestablishments in Europe Theatres completed in 1827 Theatres in Oslo