Christina Rahm
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Christina Rahm, (c. 1760-1837), was a Swedish actress and opera singer. She was employed at Eriksberg Theatre in Stockholm 1780-84 and Munkbro Theatre 1784-99, and therefter at travelling theatres.
Biography
Christina Rahm came to Stockholm in 1782 as the wife of wig-maker of the Royal Swedish Opera, Jacob Rahm. She was hired by Carl Stenborg at the Eriksberg Theatre the same year, and 1784 at the Munkbro Theatre, (also called the Stenborg Theatre) where she was to be the prima donna.
Rahm is descirbed as "one of the theatres most useful actresses": She participated in both dramas and opera and had a good singing voice which made her often used at the musicals. She often played the part of soubrette.
Among her parts were: Jenny in Kungen och skogvaktaren/The king and the gamekeeper, Lisbet in Njugg spar, Orphale in Alexander den Store/Alexander the Great (1784), Catau in Julie (1786), Rosalie in Den bedragne bedragaren/The deceived deceiver (1788), baron Birkwitz in Greven av Oldsbach/The Count of Oldsbach (1790), the abbess in The Magic Flute (1794), Genevieve in Richard Lejonhjärta/Richard the Lion Heart by Sedaine (1795). On 11 December 1785, she was the first Swedish actress to play Rosina in The Barber of Seville, a part she played pregnant with her daughter- she had five children. A lot of benefit performances were given to Christina Rahm.
When the playwright Didrik Gabriel Björn launched his play Det besynnerliga spektaklet/The odd spectacle (1790) as an after-play to Greven av Oldsbach (The Count of Oldsbach) by Brandes translated by Björn, were the actors of the theatre were to thank the audience for their support in the guise of their most popular role characters. Björn himself performed as himself: Magnus Bonn as Mäster Sock in Skomakaren/The Shoemaker, Anders Lundberg as Hyrkusken/The Coachman in Engelsmannen i Paris/An Englishman in Paris by Bertin d'Antilly, Johan Petter Lindskog as Bartholo and Bazile in The Barber of Seville, Jonas Sundman as Jonas in Mäklaren/The Broker, Carl Schylander as Mor Bobi and dansmästare Rigadoun, Johanna Löfblad as Gertrud in Njugg spar/The stingy saver, Brita Maria Modéer as the maid in Den obetänksamma/The Thoughtless one, Christina Rahm as Anna Stina in Maskeraden/The Masquerade by Holberg, Lisette Stenberg as Lady Alton in Skottländskan/The Scottish Woman by Voltaire, Margareta Sofia Lagerqvist as Anette in Anette och Lubin/Anette and Lubin by C. Dibdin, and Eva Säfström as Trädgårdsflickan/The garderner girl in Sophie.
In 1799, the Munkbro Theatre was closed. Rahm toured with the travelling theatre of Anton Lindqvist to Gothenburg. In 1800, her husband died in poverty. In 1804-09, she was a member in the travelling theare of Carl Stenborg, and performed in Linköping, Karlskrona Kalmar and Gothenburg.
See also
References
- [[1]]En lång teaterkarriär (A long theatre career) (Swedish), Släkhistoriskt Forum (2004)
- Johan Flodmark: Stenborgska skådebanorna (The Stenborg Stages) (Swedish)