Schouwburg met toneeldecor: De Legertenten 1788

Pieter Hendrik Jonxis created this print, "Schouwburg met toneeldecor: De Legertenten" (Theatre with stage set: The Army Tents), using etching. Theatre in the 18th and 19th centuries was a space where social norms were both performed and negotiated. Here, we see a scene from the play "Achilles in Tent" performed on stage to an audience. Note the architecture: the stage and the theatre hall are designed to signal rank, wealth and status. The boxes on the sides of the stage create a theater *within* the theater, occupied by the wealthy, the elite. What we have is a play portraying the elite watched by the elite in their own carefully constructed enclaves. It all seems like a mirror reflecting the hierarchy of the time. Consider how such performances might have reinforced class and gender roles, or conversely, provided a space for their subtle subversion. The theater becomes a microcosm of society itself, doesn't it?