Christiania Theatre, Theatre venue at Bankplassen, Oslo, Norway.
Christiania Theatre is a historic theatre building on Bankplassen in Oslo, built in the 1830s to a design by architect Christian Heinrich Grosch. It stands close to Akershus Fortress and is an example of the classicist style common in Norway at that time.
The theatre opened in October 1836 and served as the main venue for spoken drama in Norway for over six decades. It closed in September 1899 after the National Theatre opened and drew audiences away.
The theatre was one of the first places in Norway where performances were given in Norwegian rather than Danish, which was rare at the time. This drew a new kind of audience that felt the stage was finally speaking in its own voice.
The building sits on Bankplassen, a small square in central Oslo that is easy to reach on foot from most of the city center. Since it no longer works as an active theatre, visitors can look at it from the outside but should not expect to enter for a performance.
The world premiere of Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt took place here in 1876, even though the play had been written for reading rather than performance. Staging it was a bold choice, and it showed that Norwegian writing could reach far beyond the country's borders.
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