TheatermuseetVedChristiansborg

S U M M A R Y

Ch ristiansbo rg Castle bu rned down twice, b u t the wing in

which th e C ou rt T h ea tre is situ ated , b o th times escaped the

flames. I t was bu ilt in 1742, and, in 1766, on the model of Ver-

sailles, the T h ea tre was arranged by the F rench arch itect, N.

H. Jard in . C h ris tia nV II (1749-1808), K ing of D enm ark and

Norway, called in a F rench troupe on whom he conferred the

title of “His M a je sty 's o rd inary actors, for the ornam en t and

honour of the C o u rt”. L iberally suppo rted by the king, the

troupe gave performances till April 1773, and its most diver-

sified reperto ry was published in 14 volumes under the title

of “T héåtre Royal de D ann em a rc”. The actors belonged to the

personal circle of th e king, and M onsieur la Tour, “jeune p re

m ie r” of the troupe, p rom p ted th e king, when, in 1768, he

perform ed, on the C ourt T heatre, the cha rac te r of su ltan Oros

m an in Voltaire's tragedy of “Zaire”, together w ith some fa-

vou rites as fellow-players. At the same time the Court T heatre

was used for “Bals masqués parés en dom ino”, and a t such a

festival Caroline M ath ilde (a sister of King George III), the

k ing ’s English-born consort, danced, for the last time, w ith

her lover, the M in ister of S tate, Coun t Struensee, during the

n igh t of Jan u a ry 16th 1772, preceding his imprisonm en t and

subsequen t execution and her banishm ent. A silk tapestried

room, still ex tan t, is said, according to trad itio n , to have been