EXHIBITION
A visit to The Court Theatre is much more than a visit to The historic Court Theatre from 1767, in the more than a quarter of a millennium old but newly restored interiors. Some stories have emerged from the walls in which they have been hidden for decades. Other stories about the life in The Court Theatre over generations can now be seen in an installation with a model of The Court Theatre in the year 1767, or heard in some unique audio stories in the boxes on the balcony. And stories about the performing arts, both historical and current, are now found in the new set design on stage, the first since 1881, in the play-it-yourself-theatre, and in the exhibition Theatre in Time, which can be found around the stage, on the balcony and in the niches.
THE SET DESIGN OF THE COURT THEATRE
When The Court Theatre was forced to close in 1881 due to danger of fire, all the furnishings, including scenery and set design, disappeared. Now, theatre painter David Drachmann has drawn, painted and produced a completely new set design for the stage of The Court Theatre, the old stage floor has come to the fore and appears at its best again. The new set design is built according to the measurements and proportions known in 18th-century baroque theatre. It is not a baroque set design, but it creates the experience of and atmosphere in a historical stage space, as it looked in the great period of the baroque theatre. It is a must see!
The motif in Drachmann's set design is partly taken from Ludvig Holberg's The Political Pitcher. The Pitcher was the first comedy written in Danish and addressed to a Danish audience in a publicly accessible theatre house, namely the Lille Grønnegade Theatre in the middle of Copenhagen in the early 1720s.
'PLAY-IT-YOURSELF-THEATRE'
The Political Pitcher is the inspiration for the new 'play-it-yourself-theatre' on the stage of The Court Theatre. 'play-it-yourself-theatre' consists of a series of fascinating costumes which in form refer back to the various roles of the 1720s and the comedy, but at the same time differ in materials and design from traditional costumes.
Visitors can put on the costumes and play with and in them, in the roles, on stage. At the same time, the costumes are complemented by a karaoke actor, a screen that shows a few selected scenes from The Political Pitcher - which can then be played for fun in the middle of a set design a la 1720s and the Pitcher's Copenhagen.
THEATRE IN TIME
All around the stage, balcony corridors and in niches of The Court Theatre you will find the new exhibition Theatre in Time through 300 Years. Theatre in Time begins with Ludvig Holberg's comedy The Political Pitcher, which has been a classic in Danish theatre history for generations. Each showcase presents a performance and a glimpse into the history of Danish theatre. Theatre in Time is not an exhibition about the theatre's canonized classics, but about well-known and lesser-known examples of performances that have had something to say about and for the time in which they were created.
The exhibition consists of 17 performances through time, 17 random choices, 17 specially designed showcases, which are placed around The CourtTheatre in dialogue with the historical interiors and the design language of the 18th century, but at the same time the choice of materials is discreet and subdued, but clearly separated from it.
Each performance in the exhibition is accompanied by an in-depth digital presentation, which can be viewed and heard - via QR codes - on a mobile guide borrowed from the museum, or on your own mobile phone.
The digital presentation elaborates on what you see in the physical exhibition. There is a wealth of exciting knowledge and insights here, whether you want to learn more about the individual performance or look out and up and understand its context in the time in which it was created. And last but not least, you can watch 17 brand new, short and incisive video interviews with a number of today's theatre people, actors, heads of drama, directors and theatre historians talk about the individual performances and the time of which they were or are part.
THE COURT THEATRE – THE HISTORY AND THE MODEL
In the middle of the foyer of The Court Theatre, you can study a large installation built around a model of The Court Theatre as it looked when it opened in 1767. The model was designed and built by set designer Christian Tom-Petersen. His extensive and detailed work on the model took place over several years. It is not just a meticulous and detailed model, it captures the entire historical atmosphere of the absolute Court Theatre. And at the same time, you can see - in digital animations - and read a lot about The Court Theatre as a typical Baroque theatre in the 18th century and the rebuilt theatre hall in 1842, in addition to the colourful and changeable cultural history of The Court Theatre.
ON THE SOUNDTRACK OF THE COURT THEATRE
Around the boxes on the balcony you can hear what you can no longer see: 8 unique and newly produced audio stories about events and people - actors, musicians, politicians, kings, Christian 7's Great Dane and cultural figures such as Countess Danner and Hans Christian Andersen - from the long and colourful history of The Court Theatre as you have never heard it before.
DET DIGITALE BESØGSRUM
Du kan også gå på opdagelse i vores digitale besøgsrum, hvor du bl.a. finder podcast-serien Bag scenen – historier fra kulisserne, videoer om Hofteatret og scenekunsten og foruden formidlingsprojekter, der dykker ned i museets arkiver og samlinger