Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754) is to Danish theatre what playwrights such as Shakespeare Molière
Ibsen Strindberg are to their national stages - and the world stage. During his lifetime
Holberg was a major figure in European literature and thought. In Denmark his work forms the
backdrop to writers such as Søren Kierkegaard Hans Christian Andersen Karen Blixen. The
quality of Holberg's writing the universality of his themes his understanding of stage and
auditorium more than qualify him to resume his place on the international stage. This third
volume in a series of new translations presents Holberg's philosophical essay on the popular
(but not with the authorities) masked entertainment of his day the masquerade. Two plays then
wittily expose and explore subtle negotiations around identity gender class generation each
with particular focus on the mask as means of unmasking codes and conventions. Epistle 347 is a
philosophical take on the carnivalesque masquerade as being 'truer' than the social roleplays
under the paradoxical maxim that strictly speaking we are not truly masked except when bare
faced. In the play Masquerade a patriarchal master of his house sees his hierarchical world
order under threat from the young generation - and even his own wife! - enjoying 'useless'
masked amusements. At the other end of the scale the servant pays no heed to rules and
hierarchies. Ultimately however they are all but pawns in a game of chance. In the ironic
harlequinade The Invisibles a young gentleman falls in love with an 'invisible' (masked) lady.
This noble case of amour causes the servant - Harlequin - to reassess his own wholesome
sensual relationship to his sweetheart - Columbine - and he finds their amour sadly lacking any
sophistication. His ensuing high-flown attempts at imitating aristocratic courtesy cast an
ambiguous light on the cultured protocols. It is up to female intelligence to remove the mask
from the illusion. I never tire of reading Holberg's plays. (Henrik Ibsen 1869)
