[11. Aftenbladet.  March 22, 1858.]

Viola, Sille Beyer’s adaptation of Twelfth Night was presented at Christiania Theater on November 20, 1860, the eighth of Shakespeare’s plays to be presented in Norway, and again not merely in a Danish text but in a version made for the Copenhagen Theater.

Neither the critics nor the public were exacting.  The press hailed Viola as a tremendous relief from the frothy stuff with which theater-goers had been sickened for a season or two.  “The theater finally justified its existence,” says Morgenbladet,[12] “by a performance of one of Shakespeare’s plays.  Viola was beautifully done.”  The writer then explains in conventional fashion the meaning of the English title and goes on—­“But since the celebration of Twelfth Night could interest only the English, the Germans have “bearbeidet” the play and centered the interest around Viola.  We have adopted this version.”  He approves of Sille Beyer’s cutting, though he admits that much is lost of the breadth and overwhelming romantic fulness that mark the original.  But this he thinks is compensated for by greater intelligibility and the resulting dramatic effect.  “Men hvad Stykket ved saadan Forandring, Beklippelse, og Udeladelse saaatsige taber af sin Fylde idet ikke alt det Leende, Sorglose og Romantiske vandre saa ligeberettiget side om side igjennem Stykket, mens det Ovrige samler sig om Viola, det opveies ved den storre Forstaaelighed for vort Publikum og denne mere afrundede sceniske Virkning, Stykket ved Bearbeidelsen har faaet.”  As the piece is arranged now, Viola and her brother are not on the stage at the same time until Act V. Both roles may therefore be played by Jomfru Svendsen.  The critic is captivated by her acting of the double role, and Jorgensen’s Malvolio and Johannes Brun’s Sir Andrew Aguecheek share with her the glory of a thoroughly successful performance.

    [12.  November 23, 1860.]

Sille Beyer’s Viola was given twelve times.  From the thirteenth performance, January 21, 1890, Twelfth Night was given in a new form based on Lembcke’s translation.

A thorough search through the newspaper files fails to reveal even a slight notice of The Merchant of Venice (Kjobmanden i Venedig) played for the first time on Sept. 17, 1861.  Rahbek’s translation was used, and this continued to be the standard until 1874, when, beginning with the eighth performance, it was replaced by Lembcke’s.

We come, then, to A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Skjaersommernatsdrommen) played in Oehlenschlaeger’s translation under Bjornson’s direction on April 17, 1865.  The play was given ten times from that date till May 27, 1866.  In spite of this unusual run it appears to have been only moderately successful, and when Bjornson dropped it in the spring of 1866, it was to disappear from the repertoire for thirty-seven years.  On January 15, 1903, it was revived by Bjornson’s son, Bjorn Bjornson.  This time, however, it was called Midsommernatsdroemmen, and the acting version was based on Lembcke’s translation.  In this new shape it has been played twenty-seven times up to January, 1913.