Name Erike Kolstad | ||
Erike Kirstine Kolstad (died 14 April 1830), was a Norwegian stage actress. She belonged to the pioneer generation of the first public theatre in Norway, the theatre of Johan Peter Stromberg in Oslo in 1827. She is the first Norwegian actress known by name of this theatre, the first in Norway and thereby also the first professional native actress of her country.
In Norway, professional theatre was long managed by travelling theatre companies from Denmark and Sweden. In 1827, the first public theatre, which was to be the Christiania Theater, was opened in Oslo by the Swedish actor Johan Peter Stromberg. Stromberg had the ambition to create Norwegian actors. On the inauguration of the Stromberg theatre in 30 January 1827, a ballet was performed by the Norwegian dancers Henriette Hansen and Andrine (Randine) Christensen, followed by the play Hustrun, translated from Die deutsche Hausfrau by August von Kotzebue: the main parts is believed to have been played by Erike Kirstine Kolstad and her colleague Boiflin, who were described as the leading stars of the theatre during its very first years. She was described as a talented comedy actor and a soubrette. She married her colleague Boiflin. However, Stromberg was forced to leave the theatre in 1828, and up until the 1850s, the Norwegian theatre was dominated by Danish actors.