Rotterdamsch Tooneel
History
Because its name is fairly generic, there were other theatres in Rotterdam history which were known by the same name.
This twentieth century Rotterdamsch Tooneel was formed out an older theatre company, De Vereenigde Rotterdamsche Tooneelisten which had existed since 1884. In 1900 it was refounded as Rotterdamsch Tooneel.{{cite journal |last1=Walch |first1=Jan |last2=van der Lugt Melsert |first2=Cor |title=Alida Johanna Maria Tartaud-Klein |journal=Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde |date=1942 |pages=140–6 |url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_jaa003194201_01/_jaa003194201_01_0019.php |language=nl}} The theatre had a progressive reputation and mainly performed new Dutch repertoire, including Multatuli's Vorstenschool{{cite news |title=Multatuli's Vorstenschool |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB02:100006811:00005 |accessdate=27 June 2020 |publisher=Nijgh & Van Ditmar's Uitgevers-Maatschappij |date=1922 |language=nl}} and the works of Jan Fabricius and J. van Randwijk.{{cite book |last1=Naeff |first1=Top |title=Dramatische kroniek Vol. 4 |date=1921 |publisher=Van Holkema & Warendorf, "De Nieuwe Tijd" |page=213 |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB02:100003493:00217 |accessdate=27 June 2020 |language=nl}} Their repertoire also included new foreign pieces, such as Zaken zijn zaken by Octave Mirbeau{{cite book |last1=Naeff |first1=Top |title=Dramatische kroniek, vol.3 |date=1921 |publisher=Van Holkema & Warendorf, "De Nieuwe Tijd" |page=59 |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB02:100003492:00063 |accessdate=27 June 2020 |language=nl}} Liebelei by Arthur Schnitzler and Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen.{{cite book |last1=van der Zalm |first1=R.G.C. |title=Ibsen op de planken. Een ensceneringsgeschiedenis van het werk van Henrik Ibsen in Nederland 1880-1995 |date=1999 |publisher=Uitgeverij International Theatre & Film Books |location=Amsterdam |url=https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/2630633/34745_UBA003000093_017.pdf}} The troupe was considered to have a very high quality of productions. According to one 1925 obituary for one of its former actors, no matter which of the successive directors was running it during its prime, it had a recognizable style that was on part with any theatre in the country or even the world.{{cite journal |title=Frits Tartaud. 1875-1925 |journal=De kunst; een algemeen geïllustreerd en artistiek weekblad JRG 18, 1925/1926, no 928, 07-11-1925 |date=7 November 1925 |issue=928 |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=dts:2853006:mpeg21:0001 |accessdate=27 June 2020 |language=nl}}
During its period of operation, actors associated with the Rotterdamsch Tooneel included Dick van Veen,{{cite book |title=Onze tooneelartisten: de voornaamste Nederlandsche actrices en acteurs met portret en levensbeschrijving |date=1933 |publisher=Utrechtse Courant |url=http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB21:035267000:00001 |accessdate=27 June 2020 |language=nl}} Frits Tartaud, Piet Bron, Jan van Ees, Richard Flink, Cor van der Lugt Melsert, Else Mauhs, Alida Tartaud-Klein,{{cite book |title=Zoek-licht : Nederlandsche encyclopædie voor allen, vol. VIII |date=1925 |publisher=Van Loghum Slaterus & Visser |page=210 |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB02:000120518:00232 |accessdate=27 June 2020 |language=nl}} and Jules Verstraete.
After World War I, public interest had diminished to such an extent that the group could only survive by merging with the Hague Hofstad Tooneel in 1923. The theaters merged under the new name Vereenigd Rotterdamsch-Hofstad Tooneel.