Gert Westphaler

1722 comic play by Ludvig Holberg

Gert Westphaler
Gert Westphaler poster, the oldest preserved poster for a Holberg play
Written by	Ludvig Holberg
Date premiered	1722
Place premiered	Lille Grønnegade Theatre, Copenhagen, Denmark
Original language	Danish
Genre	Comedy
Setting	Denmark

Gert Westphaler or The Loquacious Barber (Danish: Mester Gert Westphaler eller Dend meget talende Barbeer) is a satirical play written by the Norwegian-Danish playwright Ludvig Holberg. It premiered in five sets at the Lille Grønnegade Theatre in Copenhagen on 28 October 1722 but Holberg later adapted it into a one- set version.

Reception

Holberg comments on the reception of the play in his first Latin-language memoir from 1728: The Loquacious Barber displeased almost all spectators in the audience to such an extent that quite a few left before it ended, some discretely and secretly, others openly and bluntly. I had expected something else, having always loved this eye-nest of mine among my comedies. ^[1]

Adaptions

DR has produced a "made for television version" of the play that was first broadcast on 29 March 1976. It was directed by Hans Rosenquist and was starring Stig Hoffmeyer, Ruth Brejnholm, Lisbet Lipschitz]and Ejnar Hans Jensen.^[2]

English translations

Holberg, Ludvig (1827). "The Babbling Barber: A Comedy in One Act". The Odd Volume: Second Series. Translated by Corbett, M. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. pp. 291–348. OCLC 11855940.
—— (1950). Seven One-act Plays. Translated by Alexander, Henry. Princeton University Press for the American-Scandinavian Foundation. OCLC 1612009.

References

^ "Mester Gert Westphaler". saxo.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 27 March 2018.
^ "Gert Westphaler og den meget talende barber". carlthdreyer.dk (in Norwegian). Retrieved 27 March 2018.