 | |
 A silhouette of Abel Seyler | |
| Company type | Theatre company |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Hamburg National Theatre |
| Founded | 1769 |
| Defunct | 1779 |
| Owner | Abel Seyler |
The Seyler Theatre Company, also known as the Seyler Company (German: Seylersche Schauspiel-Gesellschaft, sometimes Seylersche Truppe), was a theatrical company founded in 1769 by Abel Seyler, a Hamburg businessman originally from Switzerland who became "the leading patron of German theatre" in his lifetime.[1] It was largely a continuation of the Hamburgische Entreprise, whose dramaturge was Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and whose main owner was Seyler. The Seyler theatrical company became one of the most famous theatrical companies of Europe in the 18th century, attracting some of Germany's leading actors, playwrights and composers. It originally comprised around 60 members, including an orchestra, a ballet, house dramatists and set designers. Between 1777 and 1778 Seyler employed some 230 actors, singers and musicians. The company was originally (from 1769) contracted by the Hanoverian court with performing at Hanover and other cities of the kingdom. The company would eventually perform all across Germany, and performed for three years at the Weimar Schlosstheater, invited by Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. When Anna Amalia succeeded in engaging the Seyler Company, this was "an extremely fortunate coup. The Seyler Company was the best theatre company in Germany at that time."[2] The company had an important role in the development of German opera in the late 18th century.
A number of plays were written for the Seyler theatrical company. For example, the play Sturm und Drang (which gave its name to the Sturm und Drang period) was written originally for the company by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger (Goethe's childhood friend), then employed as its playwright, and first performed in 1777. In 1789, Abel Seyler's wife, the celebrated actress Friederike Sophie Seyler, published the Singspiel Hüon und Amande, that was plagiarized by the troupe of Emanuel Schikaneder and also greatly influenced The Magic Flute.[3]
Threatened by bankruptcy in 1770, the company was saved by Seyler's brother-in-law, Johann Gerhard Reinhard Andreae.
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Transcription
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Let us welcome you to the final day of dramatic battle between great tragedians. It is a spring day here in Ancient Greece. Nearly 17,000 patrons are filing into the Theatre of Dionysus to watch top playwrights, including favorites Aeschylus and Sophocles duke it out to see whose hero may be deemed most tragic, whose story most awful. Well Seacrestopolis, in last week's battle of the choruses, all 50 members of each playwright's chorus traveled back and forth across the stage, singing the strophe and antistrophe, telling misbegotten tales of woe. Today's first chorus is entering through the parados, taking their positions in the orchestra at the bottom of the stage. Mario Lopedokia, this is nothing we haven't seen before. All 50 members speaking from the depths of their souls. Wait, what is this? I've not seen this before, Seacrestopolis. There is one actor stepping out of choral formation, assuming an independent role in this play. Can you make out who it is? That looks like Thespis. It seems he's changing his mask, and taking on the role of another character. Incredible. Surely, Thespis will go down in history as the very first actor. He has changed the face of theater forever. And that was just the warm-up act. On to the main attraction. Aeschylus will have the stage first. Let's see what he does. We expect great things. Last competition, Sophocles beat him by a smidge, but Aeschylus is still considered the Father of Tragedy. Now, Aeschylus frequently competes at this festival, the city Dionysia. Though his plays are violent, the bloodshed is never seen by the audience, which allows the dramatic tension to take center stage. Let's see what he does today to try to win his title back. Here comes Aeschylus's chorus, but they seem to be missing quite a few people. What is going on here? Not only are they down a few people. There are two actors taking center stage. This is absolutely unheard of. He has build on Thespis's idea and added a second actor to the mix. Aeschylus is relying on the two individuals to tell the story. The dialogue possible in tragedy now has taken precedence over the chorus. No wonder he drastically shrunk its size. This applause is well deserved. The crowd has hushed. Sophocles's actors and chorus are taking the stage for the play, "Oedipus Rex." As usual, the chorus is set up in the orchestra. And what's this? Sophocles has added a third actor. Will this one-upmanship never end? Three actors, and they are changing their masks to take on several different roles as they weave the tale of Oedipus, a nice fellow who kills his father and marries his mother. Kills his father and marries his mother. That sounds pretty tragic to me. It is most tragic, Mario Lopedokia. Call me crazy, but I'm willing to bet that future generations will hold this play up as the perfect example of tragedy. Excuse me, Seacrestopolis. Oedipus has left the stage after realizing Jocasta was his wife and also his mother. Where has he gone? I can't even imagine. Wait. The messenger has stepped on stage and is telling us of the great king's actions. He says that Oedipus, upon finding his mother, wife, whatever, Jocasta, dead of her own hand in their incestuous bedroom, took the broaches from her dress and stabbed his eyes repeatedly. You can't blame the guy, can you? Bedded his mother, killed his father, is father and brother to his children. I might do the same. My friend, I do believe we've seen it all. Indeed, we have. There is nothing more tragic than Oedipus. And sure enough, the judges who have been chosen by lot from all over Greece are ready to announce the winner. Oh, folks! This is one for the history books. Dark horse playwright, Philocles, has taken first prize. What an upset. What a tragedy. What a night, folks. We have witnessed the laying of the foundation of modern theater and some great innovations: the shrinking of the chorus, the addition of three actors, and such catharsis. Doesn't a great tragedy just make you feel renewed and cleansed? It sure does, but now we are out of time. I'm Seacrestopolis, and I'm Mario Lopedokia. Peace, love and catharsis.
People associated with the Seyler Theatre Company
- Abel Seyler (director/owner/actor)
- Friederike Sophie Seyler, formerly Hensel (actress; wife of the latter)
- Konrad Ekhof (actor)
- Georgine Ekhof (actress; wife of the latter)
- Franziska Romana Koch (soprano)
- Johann Christian Brandes (actor)
- Esther Charlotte Brandes (actress; wife of the latter)
- Friedrich Maximilian Klinger (playwright)
- Johann Adam Hiller (musical director)
- Christian Gottlob Neefe (musical director)
- Georg Anton Benda (composer)
- Anton Schweitzer (musical director)
- Christoph Martin Wieland (librettist)[4]
- Heinrich Leopold Wagner (dramatist, producer, translator and lawyer)[5]
- Giovanni Federico Toscani (tenor, 1775–77)
Works written for the Seyler company (selection)
- Sturm und Drang by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger
- Ariadne auf Naxos by Georg Anton Benda
- Medea by Georg Anton Benda
- Alceste by Anton Schweitzer (composer) and Christoph Martin Wieland (libretto)
References
- ^ Wilhelm Kosch, "Seyler, Abel", in Dictionary of German Biography, eds. Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus, Vol. 9, Walter de Gruyter editor, 2005, ISBN 3110966298, p. 308
- ^ "Herzogin Anna Amalie von Weimar und ihr Theater," in Robert Keil (ed.), Goethe's Tagebuch aus den Jahren 1776–1782, Veit, 1875, p. 69
- ^ Peter Branscombe, W. A. Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, Cambridge University Press, 1991, p. 28
- ^ Ritchie Robertson, Mock-Epic Poetry from Pope to Heine, Oxford University Press, 2009, ISBN 0191610143
- ^ Alan Leidner, Sturm und Drang: Lenz, Wagner, Klinger, and Schiller: The Soldiers, The Childmurderess, Storm and Stress, and The Robbers, p. xii, Continuum International Publishing Group, 1992, ISBN 0826407056
Bibliography
- Thomas Bauman, "New directions: the Seyler company" (pp. 91–131), in North German Opera in the Age of Goethe, Cambridge University Press, 1985
- Thomas Bauman, Music and Drama in Germany: A Traveling Company and Its Repertory, 1767–1781, PhD dissertation on the Seyler Theatre Company, University of California, Berkeley, 1977
This page was last edited on 28 September 2020, at 15:05