Swedish Theatre (Stockholm)
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The Swedish Theatre (in Swedish: Svenska Teatern or "Svenskan") in Stockholm was, at the beginning of the 20th century, Sweden's largest drama theatre. During its years in use, from 1875 to 1925, it was often considered as Sweden's foremost national theatre (as opposed to the Royal Dramatic Theatre). It was founded by the actor Edvard Stjernström and located on Blasieholmen in central Stockholm.
Svenska Teatern was in its time Stockholm's largest theatre, with 1150 seats in its two stalls and four galleries (as a comparison, today's national stage Dramaten has around 700 seats for its main stage). The theatre was also equipped with the first rotating stage in Sweden and had its own ballet-ensemble that was known worldwide for its quality.
The Swedish Theatre's productions were known for their luxurious decor and splendour. It was here that the original Swedish stagings of Henrik Ibsen's most well-known plays took place, as well as a number of great productions of William Shakespeare's and Anton Chekov's dramatic works. Many of the world's greatest theatre companies came to perform at the Swedish Theatre, including Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theatre and Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater. The Swedish Theatre also toured abroad, with several productions in Moscow, Berlin, Paris, Oslo and Copenhagen among others. Most of Sweden's greatest stage actors of the early 20th century were part of the theatre's ensemble: Anders de Wahl, Gerda Lundequist, Tora Teje, Inga Tidblad, Gösta Ekman d.ä., Pauline Brunius and Hugo Björne were among others.
After the death of the founder Edvard Stjernström, he theatre was run by his widow, the playwright Louise Granberg, in 1877-1880. The Swedish Theatre was for a long time the prime jewel in the notorious Swedish theatre manager Albert Ranft's theatrical empire. Sadly the theatre was completely ruined in a fire on June 30 1925, during the Great Depression. Due to this, the theatre was never rebuilt. Since then, the Royal Dramatic Theatre has been seen as the country's main national stage.
