| Comediehuset | |
|---|---|
| City | Gothenburg |
| Country | Sweden |
| Designation | Sillgatan |
| Opened | 1779 |
| Years active | 1779-183? |
| Closed | 1830s |
| Previous names | Sillgateteatern |
Comediehuset (The Comedy House) or Sillgateteatern (The Herring-Street Theatre) was a Swedish theatre, the first real Public theatre in Gothenburg. It was located at the corner of Sillgatan, the Herring-street (now Postgatan) and Nedre Kvarnbergsgatan and active from 1779 to the 1830s.
Travelling theatre companies had had visited Gothenburg since long ago; one such visit is mentioned in 1696, and in the 18th century, a Swedish theatre company, that of Peter Lindahl, also visited the town, but there was no actual building for this. In the 1770s, amateur theatre, was very popular among the wealthy families Alströmer and Hall, and in 1779, the first house for Public theatre was founded by Patrik and Clas Alströmer.
The "Comedie House" was originally built of wood, but was rebuilt in stone already in 1782. It was the third theatre built, after Bollhuset in Stockholm (1667) and the theatre of Norrköping (1762), and in 1784, a theatre was opened in Karlskrona; a great enthusiasm and development of the theatre had begun in the country after King Gustav III of Sweden had founded the Royal Swedish Opera in 1773.
The activity and the standard on the Gustavian theatre in Gothenburg was high; the theatres outside of Stockholm was not as closely watched by the authorities as the theatres in Stockholm, and several plays therefore had their premier in Gothenburg, Karlskrona and Norrköping earlier than in Stockholm. Figaro had its premier in Comediehuset in 1786 and Hamlet in 1787, much sooner than in the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. The troupe performing in the theatre was called Gemenasiska sällskapet. It was lead first by Johan von Blanc; in 1786, he was deposed after a conflict with the actors, who fled his rule and almost reached the Norwegian border before they were stopped. He was replaced by Andreas Widerberg, who soon left for a career in Stockholm, and left the theatre to Lovisa Simson, who became Sweden's first female director of a not travelling theatre in 1787-1792.
The theatre was closed in the 1830s and the building itself burned down on 13 March 1867. It was replaced by Segerlindska teatern (1816–1892), which was also called Stora teatern and Mindre teatern (from 1864), which in its turn was replaced by Stora Teatern, founded in 1859. The foundation was part of the theatrical development in Sweden at this point- several of the biggest cities of Sweden had its first real theatres about this time; Norrköping in 1762, Karlskrona in 1784 and Malmö in 1808.