They were foreign, usually from Germany, but by the 1750s, the Swedish theater company of Peter Lindahl regularly visited the town.
This was a part of a great enthusiasm and development of the theatre had begun in the country after King Gustav III of Sweden had founded the Royal Swedish Opera in 1773.
The theater's outside the capital was not as closely guarded by the authorities, and controversial plays often had premier sooner in Gothenburg, Karlskrona and Norrköping earlier than in Stockholm.
The Marriage of Figaro had its premier in Sweden in Comediehuset in 1786, and Hamlet in 1787, much sooner than in the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm.
Comediehuset also arranged public masquerade balls, concerts, opera and ballet, and had its own restaurant.