Theater of the King: Gustav III and the Formation of Swedish National Stage.
Maria Berlova
Publisher: Артист. Режиссер. Театр.
Moscow, 2018. (Russ.)
This book (written in Russian) tells the life story of Gustav III, the enlightened monarch of 18th-century Sweden. It also focuses on the formation of The Swedish National Theater, which occurred during the Gustavian period.
Gustav III’s reign is often referred to as the Golden Age of Swedish culture, because he founded the Swedish Academy (which has annually awarded the Nobel Prize since 1901), the Royal Drama Theater (today Dramaten), and the Royal Opera among his other achievements. However, for the Russian reader, the history of Gustav III’s contribution to the Swedish national culture is hardly familiar. The book Theater of the King is the first presentation of this topic in Russia and is of interest to both specialists and a wide range of readers.
Books
Publications
The Political Secrets of Gustav III
by Maria Berlova, Michael Kroetch
Routledge, 2021.
Performing Power explores 18th-century fabrication of the royal image by focusing on the example of King Gustav III (1746–1792) – one of Sweden’s most acclaimed and controversial monarchs – who conspicuously chose theater as the primary media for his image-making and role construction.
The text postulates that Gustav III was motivated by theater’s ability to aid him in fulfilling Enlightenment’s tenet of broadly educating the populace and inculcating it with royal ideology. That he was an amateur actor, stage director, and playwright were other engines driving his choice. The project challenges and expands the commonly accepted perception of Gustav III’s contribution to Swedish theater, which has generally been limited to founding its National Opera, developing its national drama, and forming its national dramatic repertoire. Maria Berlova presents Gustav III as a performing King who strategically used political events as a framework through which he could embody the image of the ideal or enlightened monarch as presented by Voltaire.
Through this, Performing Power explores the tight relationship and complex bond between theatrical arts and politics. This unique study will be of great interest to students and scholars in theater studies, 18th-century culture, and politics.
Book Chapters
Theatricality of Catherine II’s Comedies Against Freemasonry
(Театральность комедий Екатерины II против масонства (In Russ.)), in Catherine II and Russian Literature" / Ed. by A.D. Ivinsky. Moscow: IMLI RAS, 2024, pp. 394-419
German Theatre and August von Kotzebue’s Theatrical Success and Pitfalls in Russia
The Palgrave Handbook of Theatre and Migration, edited by Y. Meerzon and S. E. Wilmer, Palgrave, 2023, pp. 653-664
The Image of the King in A. Strindberg’s play, "Gustav III"
(Образ короля в пьесе А. Стриндберга «Густав III» (In Russ.)), in Unknown Strindberg: To Mark the Centenary of the Death of August Strindberg, RGGU, Moscow, 2015, pp. 173-182
Theater in the Politics of Gustav III
(Театр в политике Густава III (In Russ.)), in The World of Swedish Culture, RGGU, Moscow, 2013, pp. 38-54
The Court Theater of Gustav III and the Unending Long History of the Swedish Play, “Opportunity Makes the Thief”
(Придворный театр Густава III и нескончаемо длинная история шведской пьесы “Случай делает вора” (In Russ.)), in The Swedes. Existence and Changes of Identity, RGGU, Moscow, 2008, pp. 315-335
The Star Power of Reagan, Trump,
and Zelensky
by Maria Berlova, with Michael Kroetch
Bloomsbury, 2026
Unpacking the phenomenon of celebrity presidents, this book explores how theatrical techniques function as expedient yet potentially dangerous tools in contemporary politics.
What can be done once politics is seen only as performance, and hybrid wars or nuclear annihilation are perceived to be just another spectacle?
By limiting its scope to former actors and showbusiness figures, this book centers on the prominent 20th- and 21st-century populist leaders Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, and Volodymyr Zelensky. It explores how such figures transitioned from theatrical engagements to the presidency, including how each of their political lives was reframed as a theatrical event.
This book reveals the various ways these presidents approached political performance and incorporated entertainment elements into it in order to shift the norms of political representation and disrupt communication modes. It further explores how these populist figures personalized and fictionalized their presidential role by means of storytelling and the bodily enactment of their myth.
In contrast to the methodology of TV entertainment used in Reagan's era, modern technology has permitted Trump and Zelensky to embrace an innovative 'distributed aesthetics' approach. Owing to its virtual nature, this technique transcends spatial and temporal limitations, while simultaneously rendering celebrity presence ubiquitous and exaggerating the illusion of intimacy between ruler and populace.
Articles
Translations
Berlova, M.S., Petrunicheva V.A. Translation into Russian of A. Strindberg’s play Gustav III, in Unknown Strindberg: To Mark the Centenary of the Death of August Strindberg
RGGU, Moscow, 2015, pp. 254-338
The Swedish Fop by Carl Gyllenborg — Swedish Comedy’s Secret of Success as a Theatre (1737–1754)
(«Шведский щеголь» Карла Гюлленборга — секрет успеха театра Шведская комедия (1737–1754) (In Russ.)),
Theater. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music, No. 1, Moscow, 2024, pp. 121-139
A Literary Duel Between Catherine II and Gustav III: The Dramatic Works of the Monarchs During the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) (Литературный поединок Екатерины II и Густава III:
драматические сочинения монархов во время Русско-шведской войны (1788–1790) (In Russ.)),
Theater. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music, No. 1, Moscow, 2023, pp. 27-45
Russia's Theatrical Past: Court Entertainment in the Seventeenth Century (Book Review)
Scando-Slavica, Vol. 68, No. 2, 2022, pp. 358-362
A Theoretical Look at the Main Character in A. Strindberg’s Historical Drama
(Образ героя в королевских драмах А. Стриндберга (In Russ.)), Theater. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music, No. 3, Moscow, 2022, pp. 70-93
Court Theatre as a Proven Source of the Europeanization of Russia During Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich’s Reign
(Придворный театр как факт европеизации России в эпоху правления царя Алексея Михайловича (In Russ.)), Theater. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music, No. 1, Moscow, 2022, pp. 204-213
Swedish School Drama and its Secularization in the 17th Century
(Шведская школьная драма и ее секуляризация в XVII в. (In Russ.)), Theater. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music, No. 4, Moscow, 2021, pp. 10-27
A Shimmer of Romanticism: Maria Taglioni’s Tour of Sweden
(Мерцание романтизма: гастроли Марии Тальони в Швеции (In Russ.)), Theater. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music, No. 2, Moscow, 2021, pp. 23-36
Lost Treasures: Swedish Court Theaters During Rococo (Утерянные сокровища: Шведские придворные театры эпохи рококо (In Russ.)), Questions of Theater/Proscenium, No. 3-4, Moscow, 2020, pp. 252-271
Cinderella by Nicolas Isouard and Charles Etienne: А Harbinger of the Swedish Romanticism («Золушка» Николо Изуара и Шардя Этьена: спектакль-предвестник шведского романтизма (In Russ.)), Theater. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music, No. 3, Moscow, 2020, pp. 8-21
Court Theatre and Spectacles of Queen Christina
(Театр и зрелища королевы Кристины (In Russ.)), Theater. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music, No. 3, Moscow, 2019, pp. 14-29
Jean-Baptiste Landé’s Work in Scandinavia. The Prehistory of the Russian Triumph (Деятельность Жан-Батиста Ланде в Скандинавии. Предыстория российского триумфа (In Russ. and Eng.)), Theater. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music, No. 2, Moscow, 2019, pp. 86-104
Madame de Pompadour’s Theater of Feelings (Театр чувств мадам де Помпадур (In Russ.)), Theater. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music, No. 4, Moscow, 2018, pp. 179-199
Amateur Theaters at the Courts of Enlightened Monarchs Gustav III and Catherine II (Любительский театр при дворах просвещенных монархов Густава III и Екатерины II (In Russ.)), Theater. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music, No. 2, Moscow, 2018, pp. 117-130
Voltaire and Amateur Theater
(Вольтер и любительский театр (In Russ.)), Theater. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music, No. 4, Moscow, 2017, pp. 66-80
“The Jealous Neapolitan” by Gustav III"
(«Ревнивый неаполитанец» Густава III (In Russ.)), Theater. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music, No. 3, Moscow, 2016, pp. 41-62
“Not Only Spectators and Not Simply Actors”. Court Theater in Sweden During the Rule of Gustav III
(«Не только зрители и не просто актеры». Придворный театр в Швеции эпохи Густава III (In Russ.)), Questions of Theater/Proscenium, No. 3-4, Moscow, 2015, pp. 273-285
Transnationalism of Swedish and Russian National Theaters in the Second Half of the 18th Century: How Foreign Performative Art Sharpened the Aesthetics of National Identity
Nordic Theater Studies 2015, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 104-114
Playing King
Nordic Theatre Studies 2014, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 80-90
Strindberg as an Artist
(Стриндберг как художник (In Russ.)), Stage, No.2 (76), Moscow, 2012, pp.10-12
The Preserved Wonder. The Drottningholm Court Theater
(Сохраненное чудо. Придворный театр Дроттнингхольма (In Russ.)), Stage, No.2 (64), Moscow, 2010, pp.59-61
Gripsholm – the Ancient Castle of Gustav Vasa and the Court Theater of Gustav III
(Грипсхольм - старинный замок Густава Васа и придворный театр Густава III (In Russ.)), Stage, No.5 (67), Moscow, 2010, pp. 30-32
The Theatrical Wanderings of Baron Armfelt
(Театральные скитания барона Армфельта (In Russ.)), Questions of Theater/Proscenium, No. 1-2, Moscow, 2010, pp. 328-338