The Du Londel Troupe was a French 18th-century theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 troupe. From 1753 to 1771, it was active as the French Theatre of Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, where it played a great part in that country's theatre history.

The French troupe performed in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

 in Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 in 1748–53. They also performed in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

 in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 during the king's stay there in 1749. The troupe was under the leadership of Jeanne Du Londel

Jeanne Du Londel

Marie Jeanne Du Londel also called 'du Londel' and 'Dulondel', née Chateauneuf was a French actor and theatre director. She was the leader of the Du Londel Troupe....

, widow of Jean Du Londel, and Pierre de Laynay in 1753, when they were invited to Sweden by the initiative of the Swedish queen, Louisa Ulrika of Prussia

Louisa Ulrika of Prussia

Louisa Ulrika of Prussia was Queen of Sweden between 1751 and 1771 as the spouse of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden, and queen mother during the reign of King Gustav III of Sweden.-Background:...

.

The troupe followed the royal court between the royal palaces and performed on the court- theatres, such as the Drottningholm Theatre and Confidencen

Confidencen

Confidencen, or Ulriksdals slottsteater ; is a Swedish opera stage.Confidencen is Sweden's oldest rococo theatre situated in the National City Park, on the ground of the Ulriksdal Palace outside Stockholm. The building's original structure was built in 1671...

, but they also performed for the public in the theatre of Bollhuset

Bollhuset

Bollhuset, also called ', ', and ' at various times, was the name of the first theater in Stockholm, Sweden; it was the first Swedish theater and the first real theater building in the whole of Scandinavia. The name "" means "The Ball House", and it was built in 1627 for ball sports and used in...

 in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 during the Winter

Winter

Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...

. After the season of 1753-54, the Stockholm theatre was reserved for them and the Swedish actors were turned out, which interrupted the development of the Swedish language theatre; the Swedish theatre formed the Stenborg Troupe

Stenborg Troupe

The Stenborg troupe was a Swedish Theatre Comedy troupe, active in Sweden and Finland in the 18th century. It was also called Stenborgska skådebanorna , Svenska komeditruppen and Svenska Comedien or Svenska Teatern...

. The Du Londel Troupe performed the latest plays from Paris and also ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

s, but they largely remained a pleasure for those who could speak French. In 1771, the French Theatre was dissolved by Gustav III of Sweden

Gustav III of Sweden

Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....

, who wished to establish a Swedish-language national theatre.

The Du Londel troupe is mostly remembered in history for interrupting the development of the Swedish theatre and replacing it with a theatre which was only understandable for those who could speak French; but the current wiev is that they made "The gracious French singing theatre" popular in Sweden, and thereby inspired to the foundation of the Royal Dramatic Theatre

Royal Dramatic Theatre

The Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....

 and the Royal Swedish Opera

Royal Swedish Opera

Kungliga Operan is Sweden's national stage for opera and ballet.-Location and Environment:...

.