Clarke, Jan

English

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REVIEW138 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 2 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 2Willmar Sauter & David Wiles The Theatre of Drottninghom – Then and Now:  Performance between the 18th and 21st centuries STOCKHOLM: STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY, 2014, XV+296 PAGESOne of the most endearing things about this book is the extent to which it comes across as a conver-sation between two eminent scholars of the thea-tre on a topic that they evidently both hold dear and !nd endlessly fascinating: the Drottningholm Court "eatre. Indeed, the chapters are almost al-ternated between them and we are privy to their individual (and sometimes contrasting) reactions to the same theatrical events. Topics covered in-clude the ‘rediscovery’ of the theatre in the 1920s; it’s historical, social and theatrical context with reference to Swedish court life, ‘baroque’ theatre and stage design, and eighteenth-century acting; as well as an appraisal of some signi!cant perfor-mances across the ages. "e volume is beautifully illustrated with reproductions of contemporary engravings and paintings, photographs of the the-atre and its setting, and of twentieth- and twen-ty-!rst century productions. Much of the argument is set within the con-text of a discussion of ‘authenticity’. What makes the theatre special is the fact that it is a well-pre-served eighteenth-century theatre with machinery and scenery intact and this is what audiences pay to see – Wiles even describes it at one point as a ‘box of tricks’ (p. 54). However, in the view of the authors, this setting necessitates certain staging conventions and a style of acting for which today’s professional performers have little sympathy or ap-titude (not venturing upstage so as to preserve the perspective, not turning one’s back on the audience or indulging in inappropriate histrionics). Con-sequently, their estimation of the relative success of the productions they analyse is framed almost exclusively in terms of the honouring (or not) of such conventions. Apparently they are not alone – when a director attempted to subvert expectations by having the actors perform against bare #ats, the audience felt cheated. But any production at Drot-tningholm must, by its very nature, be inauthen-tic, since, however much the director might aim at ‘reproduction’ or ‘reconstruction’, it can only ever be a pale imitation of an eighteenth-century exemplar. In Wiles’s view, therefore, ‘the ultimate challenge at Drottningholm must be to create, somehow, authentic inauthenticity’ (p. 57)."e solution proposed is that of the ‘histor-ically informed’ performance, hence the exten-sive discussion of eighteenth-century architecture and acting. It is these aspects of the book, how-ever, that I !nd most problematic. For example, the term ‘baroque’ is used throughout with, for the most part, insu$cient explanation, and it is set in opposition to the ‘classical’ in a way that is decidedly old-fashioned for a twenty-!rst centu-ry historian of French theatre. "us, it is asserted that “[a] limitation of the term ‘baroque’ is its in-ability to deal with the Italy/France divide critical to the performance of eighteenth-century opera” (p. 133), and reference is also made to the works of Racine sitting uncomfortably within a baroque aesthetic, whereas spectacular quasi ‘operatic’ pro-ductions were, in fact, regularly performed in rep-ertory alongside the masterworks of the ‘classical’ tradition. Similarly, to my mind, the discussion of the concepts of ‘historicity’ and ‘historicism’, which are key to the debate, are confusing rather than elucidating.139Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 2 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 2"e point that Drottningholm is a ‘French’ theatre that looks back nostalgically to the age of Louis XIV is well made. I did, however, feel that there was a certain degree of simpli!cation in the discussion of its architectural features and their French antecedents, particularly with regard to the positioning of the royal spectators. "e same can also be said of the presentation of the French King’s political project. "us, Louis is described as ‘feminising’ and ‘demilitarising’ the nobility by means of fashion and court entertainments in an argument that owes much to Rossellini’s Prise de pouvoir de Louis XIV, thereby neglecting the fact that these same members of the noblesse d’épée, with all their powder and perfumes, rushed to o%er their lives on the battle!elds of Europe.Comparisons with other (more or less) historic theatres abound and are fruitful, and I particular-ly liked the discussion of the site’s place as a vis-itor attraction within the heritage industry. "e references to the reconstructed Globe and Mark Rylance’s comments on the acting style imposed by that auditorium were also very revealing. I did, though, regret that there was no mention of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and its use of can-dlelight, no doubt because publication came too shortly after the opening of that auditorium in January 2014.In the two authors’ collaborative !nal chapter, “Towards the Future”, they discuss (using Pierre Nora’s terminology) the theatre’s evolution from a milieu de mémoire, where the past and contem-porary innovation were brought together, into a lieu de mémoire, “a material, functional and sym-bolic site established explicitly in order that the past may be remembered”. Paradoxically, though, they see in this a way forward, since “[a]s a site of memory, we may !nd that the theatre becomes something more than an inert container within which we perform, watch and conduct historical experiments. "e theatre rather than ourselves may !nally become the performer.” (p. 212). And they conclude with the incontrovertible statement that “the Drottningholm Court "eatre remains a challenge for future generations of creative artists, re#ective historians and responsive audiences” (p. 227). Long may it so continue! Jan Clarke, Durham UniversityREVIEW140 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 2 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 2

Willmar Sauter - David Wiles: The Theatre of Drottningholm - Then and Now: Performance between the 18th and 21st centuries

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Willmar Sauter - David Wiles: The Theatre of Drottningholm - Then and Now: Performance between the 18th and 21st centuries

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