545170132

F OR more than two hundred ycars the Danish Natio­ nal Theatre reflected most of what was going on in social life and, in a laudable manner, it has lived up to its ingenious motto " Not for pleasure only” that, for about 165 years, has been standing in golden letters above the proscenium. Denmark was the first country in Scandinavia in which the mother tongue was used for delineating human character. That which was said in foreign languages before 1722, was, after that date, expressed in the people’s own language, always more in touch with what lies deepest in the soul of the pcople. The founders were Moliére’s pupil, the French actor René de Montagu, who was responsible for the practical work, and Ludvig Holberg, Professor at the University of Copenhagen; with his witty comedies about everyday life, he may be styled the Moliére of the Nord, the Father of Danish comedy. The poet Adam Oehlenschlagcr, the greatest tragedian in Denmark, had a mind totally diffe­ rent from that of Holberg. He wrote: “Should the town of Copenhagen sink into the bowels of the earth and, some centuries hence, Holberg’s comedies only be 20