DUTCH THEATRE POSTERS, 1853-1926

On microfiche

Municipal Archives Rotterdam

Background

The Municipal Archives of Rotterdam holds a remarkable collection of large-format posters documenting theatre and some opera performances in the city's theatres and in certain other Dutch cities in the second half of the nineteenth and first quarter of the twentieth centuries. Since the performing companies were mostly itinerant ones that visited other major Dutch cities, the collection can be regarded as representative for theatre productions in the Netherlands as a whole in this 75-year period.

Each poster is numbered per year and the whole collection has been filmed chronologically.

Information on the posters

Many of the posters are of course in Dutch, but it is an interesting attestation to the international orientation of the Netherlands that examples can be found in other languages, such as French, German and Italian, or in a mixture of languages. The posters provide a wealth of information that can be put to excellent use for a variety of research projects in the history of the theatre. In addition to the name of the theatre, they contain:

— the titles of the pieces performed
— the dates and times of performances
— where the action of the piece is set
— the name of the theatre or opera company
— names of directors and conductors
— names of the cast and their roles
— the types of seats available and their prices
— the hours the box office was open
— at times information about decors and costumes

Other things that can be determined from the posters are whether:

— it is an original Dutch work or a translation
— there are reservation costs; cloakroom costs
— special tickets were available to certain
— categories of people
— the piece had played successfully elsewhere
— was a first or repeat performance
— the first performance or return of a certain actor
— it was a benefit performance or dedicated to someone in particular
— there were special features on the program (e.g., New Year's wishes)
— there were special rules for seating (e.g. "ladies in the front rows may not keep their hats on"!)

and so forth.

Usefulness for research

Quite a few interesting questions could be asked of this material, such as:

— What sort of things were performed, when and by whom? How often, for example, was "Uncle Tom's Cabin" performed in the 1850s and 1860s?

— What was the proportion of original Dutch to foreign work in given periods; and were foreign works performed in the original language or in translation?

— What was the relation of serious to lighter types of theatre and opera?

— How often were foreign actors, conductors, etc. on tour in the Netherlands?

— Can any trends in all these areas be discerned?

On the more physical level, one could study the layout and presentation of the material (through the inclusion of a ruler at filming, the original formats of the posters can be derived).

And finally the technological question could be posed: when was it first possible to reserve by telephone in certain theatres?

This rich body of material will prove to be a significant source for research not only into the history of the theatre and performance in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but also for the wider study of European culture during this crucial period of its history. Due to their large format such posters did not often survive in the holdings of European libraries and archives. It is therefore a fortunate occurrence that the Municipal Archives of Rotterdam were able to preserve so many. The edition on microfiche makes this physically awkward material much easier to consult.

Technical note

Because of their format many of the posters were filmed in the "cine mode" (rotated 90 degrees). For optimal use therefore, a microfiche reader with the possibility of image rotation or a square carrier is recommended.