The Queen, Henrik, Frederik & Mary @ new Playhouse

In the evening yesterday the Regent Couple and the Crown Prince Couple attended the official opening of The Royal Theatre's new Royal Playhouse in Kvæsthusgade. The original Royal Danish Theatre was built by architect Wilhelm Dallerup in 1874 and is especially beautiful at night. It is home to the Royal Theatre Company, the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera. The theatre has two stages, the old called Gamle Scene and the new stage called Ny Scene. Gamle Scene is a grand auditorium which we have seen during previous royal engagements, notably in the pre-wedding events for Frederik and Mary in 2004. The ceiling is decorated with Constantin Hansen's Nine Muses. The new Playhouse (actor's studio) adds a new and also quite beautiful element to the mixture of old and new of the theatre complex (see galleries below for photos). The new Playhouse is on the same side of the harbour as the old Royal Theatre and Amalienborg and juts out over the water, just as the new Opera House does on the opposite side of the harbour across from Amalienborg. The Prime Minister, the Culture Minister, various other politicians and many in the Danish acting fraternity were among the 1000 guests. The Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen spoke before the performance of Hamlet, which Danish critics have today given high critical acclaim.



The Royal Danish Playhouse 2008
Royal Danish Playhouse
Hamlet - The eponymous Prince of Denmark | By William Shakespeare - what better to begin the life of the Playhouse? Nicolas Bro plays Hamlet in the inaugural production.
The History of Danish Theatre from The Royal Theatre website
Royal Danish Theatre gallery 1
The new Playhouse gallery 2
Video presentation about the Royal Danish Theatres (02:45)

Berlingske Tidende 'Før Skuespilhusets store aften' (Danish)
B.T. (Danish)
DR.dk (Danish)
Politiken 'Skuespilhuset officielt åbnet' (Danish)
Berlingske Tidende 'Skuespilhus officielt åbnet' (Danish)
Berlingske Tidende 'Hamlet – det rigtige valg' (Danish)


Berlingske Tidende's photo series shows the drama of the building itself over the water of Copenhagen's harbour
TV2 photo gallery of the Playhouse

The opening:
Madeleine Glindorf's photo gallery
Jyllands Posten photo gallery
Berlingske Tidende photo gallery 1
Added: Søren Steffen's photo gallery
Berlingske Tidende photo gallery 2

DR1 video clip (02:03) - preparations for the opening
DR1 clip (01:05) - Adrian Hughes in the foyer (no vision of arrivals, it's 'atmosphere')
DR Update (00:51) - arrivals

Of interest: Times Online 'The Great Dane - Everyone thinks that Hamlet is great. They're right'

Photos: © Claus Poulsen, Liselotte Sabroe, Jens Astrup, ThorkildAmdi,Olesen Peter Hove/Berlingske Tidende, B.T., Jyllands-Posten, POLFOTO, sermitsiaq.gl, Politiken, S&H

Added: ¡Hola! 'La Familia Real danesa se viste de largo para inaugurar el nuevo Teatro Real'