Liebhabertheater Reval

The Liebhabertheater Reval existed from 1784 to 1795. It performed publicly in Reval (today Tallinn, Estonia) during a time when no professional theatre was active in the city and surroundings.

History

Founded by August von Kotzebue and Friedrich von Rosen in 1784, the amateur theatre was mainly driven by some noble and bourgeois families in Reval belonging to the local economic and political elites.

Repertoire

Some of Kotzebues most popular plays, e.g. "Menschenhaß und Reue", "Die Indianer in England", "Die Sonnenjungfrau", "Der Eremit auf Formentera" were first premiered in the amateur theatre before entering the professional stage. Kotzebue initiated the construction of a stage in the building of the Kanutigilde where the theatre society performed until the opening of a professional theatre in Reval in 1795.

Members

Active members of the amateur theatre were: Margarethe Wistinghausen, Anna von Rosenberg, Dem. Clayhills, Georg von Meyendorff, Peter von Büsing, Dem. von Büsing, Dem. Seebeck, Jacob von Klugen, Martin Heinrich Arvelius, Friedrich Arvelius, Justus Johann Riesenkampff, August von Kotzebue, Friederike von Kotzebue, Adam Hueck, Margarethe Elisabeth Hueck, Thomas Magnus Rottbeck, Justus Johann Rottbeck, Gerdrutha Helena Rottbeck, Adam Johann Rottbeck, Friedrich von Rosen, Johann Kiöhlberg, Franz Ulrich Albaum, Helena Sophia Albaum, Henriette Maria Albaum, Jacob Johanna Reutlinger, Christian von Glehn, Jonas Blix, Pawel Petrowitsch Zernischeff, Heinrich, Johann Strahlborn, Peter von Koskull, Wilhelmina von Harpe, Wilhelm von Harpe, Friedrich Gerber, Madame Hoeppener, Julius Mirus, Wilhelm Dom, Margareth Elisabeth Dom, Friedrich Dom, Anna von Cronmann, Berend Johann von Tiesenhausen, Ludwig Johanna von Knorring, Margaretha Charlotte Carlblohm, Wilhelm von Schilling, Anna Juliana Schilling, Karl Friedrich Biedermann, Chistian Traugott Peuckert, Anna Dorothea Peuckert, Otto von Rosen, Maria Gloy, Maria Boulousse, Hermann Boulousse. Professional actors. like e.g. Friederike Unzelmann (Eulalia in "Menschenhaß und Reue"), completed the cast from time to time.

Literature

Rosen, Elisabeth: Rückblicke auf die Pflege des Schauspiels in Reval. Reval: Revaler Deutschen Theaterverein, 1910.

Wistinghausen, Henning von: Die Kotzebue-Zeit in Reval. Tallinn: Tallinn Rammtutrükikoda, 1995.