Pierre Deland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pierre Joseph Deland, (13 December 1805- 13 November 1862), was a Swedish actor and theatre director. As director of the Deland travelling theatre, he was one of the most famous artists in both Sweden and Finland during the mid 19th century. His troupe inaugurated several of the first theatres founded in the Swedish and Finnish towns during this period. They toured between the theatres of the country side, who did not have a standing ensamble and therefore regarded them as their regular staff.

[edit] Biography

Pierre Deland was born the child of Jean Pierre Deland, violinist of the royal chapell; his grandfather Louis Antoine Deland was from Luxemburg, originally har dresser of the queen, and his oncle, Louis Deland, was the master of the Royal Swedish Ballet. He worked as a clerk and an officer before he joined the travelling theatre of Kristoffer Svanberg with his brothers Lars Mauritz and Fredrik in 1822. He married the step-daughter of the director, Charlotta de Broen, and in 1833, he took over the Svanberg troupe, now called the Deland troupe, and the year after, the performed in Gothenburg, where the star Charlotta Eriksson performed with them as a guest artist.

His troupe inaguerated among others the theatre in Uppsala in 1840, the Åmål theatre in 1848 and regularly performed at the Åbo Svenska Teater after its foundation 1839; it inaguerated the Swedish Theatre in helsinki in the 1860-61 season, and it was from his troupe the first regular troupe of this Finnish national stage was hired. His wife Charlotta Deland and his brother Fredrik Deland where also popular actors, and his daughter Betty Deland and son-in-law Knut Almlöf where to be stars at the Royal Dramatic Theatre.

As an actor he was considered well educated and versatile; he taught his students a more natural way of speaking and upphold a high artistical standard and often played French comedys, but as a person, he was not very liked by his colleagues, as he was a very strict director; he was described as cold and arrogant towards his actors, and demanded "virtue and order" not only in their work but also in their private life.

In 1835 he bought Djurgårdsteatern jointly with Ulrik Torsslow and Sara Torsslow; the theatre and it's licence belonged to his wife's family, she was the daughter of director Isaac de Broen (d.1815) and niece of Aurora de Broen, whos husband they bought it from. The companionship was dissolved in 1837, but in 1849, he was again made director, and the troupe then performed there in the summers, and in Finland during the winters. I the 1850s, his economy deteriorated, as he choosed to play to solemny plays for the taste of the audience, and in 1861, he accepted an offer to join the Royal Dramatic Theatre.