…The theatre is my schooling, 
the source of my knowledge...

To Hans Christian Andersen the theatre was "a gigantic Platform from where one can proclaim for Hundreds, what may hardly be read by Ten!". At his time entertainment was as important as education at the theatre.

Until 1948 The Royal Theatre was the most distinguished theatre in the capital. The theatre presented a varied repertoire of dramas, operas, and ballets which addressed all groups of the public and ranged from Holberg's ever popular comedies to bourgeois tragedies, melodramas, and horror tragedies. Likewise the vaudeville and the ballad opera repertoire played a prominent part, just as German, French, and later Italian operas were very popular among the public.

In the ballet field August Bournonville was an almost absolute ruler owing to his many choreographic descriptions of exotic people, great national romantic and Nordic mythological ballets.

With the abolition of absolutism in 1849 old and stifling theatre restrictions ended. In the capital a number of private theatres opened where new initiatives and forms of theatre were introduced. Especially the popular and romantic comedies found a ready audience. As a theatre poet Andersen followed this development closely and throughout his long life he was influenced strongly by the various theatre genres of his age.