To Damascus

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To Damascus
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Harriet Bosse as the Lady
in the première production in 1900
Written byAugust Strindberg
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Place premieredRoyal Theatre, Stockholm
Original languageSwedish
GenreStation drama

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To Damascus (Template:Langx), also known as The Road to Damascus, is a trilogy of plays by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg.[1] The first two parts were published in 1898, with the third following in 1904.[2] It has been described as "Strindberg's most complex play" and as "his greatest play," due to its "synthesis of a wide variety of myths, symbols and ideas with a profound spiritual analysis in a new dramatic form."[3]

Writing process

Strindberg began writing Part 1 in January 1898 in France and by 8 March he had completed the manuscript.[4] This marked the first time that Strindberg had written drama in five years.[4] "If you find it good," he wrote to Gustaf af Geijerstam, "chuck it in at the theatre. If you find it impossible, hide it away."[4] At this time, he considered the first part to be complete in itself; he did not originally intend to follow it with two sequels.[4] He began writing Part 2 during the summer of 1898 in Lund and had completed it by the middle of July.[5] The first two parts were published in a single volume in October 1898.[6] Strindberg arranged for a copy to be sent to Henrik Ibsen, describing him as "the Master, from whom he learned much."[7] Strindberg began to write Part 3 in January 1901.[8] It was published in April 1904.[9]

Analysis and criticism

The dramatic structure of the first part utilises a circular, palindromic form of the Medieval "station drama".[4][10] The protagonist, The Stranger, on his way to an asylum, passes through seven "stations"; having reached the asylum, he then returns to each in reverse order, before arriving at his starting-point on a street corner.[4] Peter Szondi describes this form as a type of subjective theatre in which the classical "unity of action" is replaced with a "unity of the self":

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This technique affects radically the way in which time operates in the drama, producing a static and episodic quality to the scenes.[11] It belongs to what came to be known as "I-dramaturgy".[12]

Production history

To Damascus received its première at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm on 19 November 1900, under the direction of Emil Grandinson.[13][14] August Palme played the Stranger and Harriet Bosse played the Lady.[15] The director hoped to utilise magic lanterns projected onto gauze as a means of tackling the many scene-changes that the play required, though he was forced to abandon the idea in the face of technical difficulties.[16] The production ran for twenty performances.[14]

August Falck directed a production of Part 1 at the Intimate Theatre in Stockholm, which opened on 18 November 1910.[17] The theatre closed soon after under mounting debts.[17] Another production was staged in Ystad in January 1912 as part of Strindberg's 63rd birthday celebrations.[18]

Part 1 received its British première at the Westminster Theatre in London, in a production by the Stage Society that opened on 2 May 1937.[19] It was directed by Carl H. Jaffé and starred Francis James and Wanda Rotha.[19]

All three parts were performed at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, in a production that opened on 3 April 1975.[19][20] It was directed by Michael Ockrent and David Gothard and starred Roy Marsden and Katherine Schofield.[19]

References

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  1. ^ Meyer (1991, 179).
  2. ^ Meyer (1985, 385, 448).
  3. ^ Ward (1980, 135, 171).
  4. ^ a b c d e f Meyer (1985, 374).
  5. ^ Meyer (1985, 382).
  6. ^ Meyer (1985, 385).
  7. ^ Meyer (1985, 386).
  8. ^ Meyer (1985, 415).
  9. ^ Meyer (1985, 448).
  10. ^ Szondi (1965, 25).
  11. ^ Szondi (1965, 26–7).
  12. ^ Szondi (1965, 22).
  13. ^ Meyer (1985), 409–10.
  14. ^ a b Meyer (1991b, 187).
  15. ^ Meyer (1985, 404).
  16. ^ Meyer (1985, 482).
  17. ^ a b Meyer (1985, 543–4).
  18. ^ Meyer (1985), 560–1.
  19. ^ a b c d Meyer (1991b, 188).
  20. ^ Meyer (1985), 383.

Sources

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  • Meyer, Michael. 1985. Strindberg: A Biography. Oxford Lives ser. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1987. Template:ISBN.
  • ---, trans. 1991a. To Damascus (Part 1). In Plays: Three. By August Strindberg. London: Methuen. 189-276. Template:ISBN.
  • ---. 1991b. Introduction. In Plays: Three. By August Strindberg. London: Methuen. 179-188. Template:ISBN.
  • Szondi, Peter. 1965. Theory of the Modern Drama: A Critical Edition. Ed. and trans. Michael Hays. Theory and History of Literature ser. vol. 29. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1987. Template:ISBN.
  • Ward, John. 1980. The Social and Religious Plays of Strindberg. London: Athlone. Template:ISBN.
  • Williams, Raymond. 1952. Drama from Ibsen to Brecht. London: Hogarth, 1993. Template:ISBN.

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