Summerhall, Friday the 16th of November 2012.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to welcome you all on behalf of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Edinburgh to the aptly named Red Room at Summerhall. Thanks to the generous financial support of the Swedish Institute in Stockholm, we are delighted to have you here at the first day of our two day celebration of the life and drama of the great Swedish author, artist and alchemist, August Strindberg. Our theatre workshop today and conference tomorrow are the culmination of a unique collaboration between the staff and students of the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews; and I would like to take this opportunity to offer particular thanks to Peter Graves, Ian Giles and Pia Sund at Edinburgh, Simon Murray at Glasgow, and David Graves at St Andrews, without whose contributions, what we are about to enjoy would not have been possible. I should also point out that our humble offerings are but a small part of a much larger programme of events being co-ordinated by the Swedish Institute across the globe.
2012 marks the centenary of Strindberg’s death. This is by no means a morbid occasion. On the contrary, the passing of these hundred years should be seen as a gift, which has given us the distance and objectivity we need to reassess and appreciate the man’s contribution to world literature. When Strindberg was laid to rest in Norra Kyrkogården in Stockholm on the 19th of May 2012, it was with the scale and solemnity of a state funeral. It is estimated that more than 60,000 people joined the cortege - a record for a non-royal personage in Sweden - and a great irony for a man who had dedicated so much of his energy to a very vocal struggle against the establishment. In fact, Strindberg was a man who actively courted controversy throughout his lifetime. Thanks to a turbulent relationship with the press, he achieved great fame, and great notoriety, for his contributions to the debates on female emancipation and political reform. It is, however, for his enduring contribution to literature, and specifically drama, that we will remember him this weekend.
In terms of impact and recognition, Strindberg is to Swedish literature what Shakespeare is to the literature of the English speaking world. He was a versatile and prolific writer, producing countless letters in addition to a series of novels, verse and around sixty plays. His dramatic legacy is interesting not only because of its volume but thanks to its hugely innovative nature. In his later years, Strindberg was a pioneer of Expressionist techniques in performance, as used to great effect in his 1901 work, A Dream Play. The departure this represented from established norms was so profound and well-received that he has since been lauded by dramatists the world over as the ‘Father of Modern Theatre’.
While such an epithet might be considered an impressive legacy for any dramaturge, it is important to remember that this is not the only ground that Strindberg broke. Earlier on in his career, he was also responsible for introducing the tenets of Naturalism to Swedish literature. His seminal 1879 novel, The Red Room, is widely acknowledged as setting the Naturalist ball rolling in Sweden. And it is this contribution that will serve as the inspiration for our workshop today. Although rich and descriptive, Strindberg’s take on Naturalism wasn’t bogged down with the obsessive-compulsive level of detail which characterises the work of some of his European contemporaries. Instead he chose to focus on the issues affecting his audience as he saw them. The plight of women, emasculated men, and the urban proletariat all featured highly on his agenda. These were nevertheless 19th century concerns for a 19th century public struggling to adjust to the interpersonal and intellectual demands of a newly industrialised society. Our events will turn the spotlight onto the continued relevance of these concerns today.
The basis for our discussion will be three specially commissioned adaptations of Strindberg’s plays: The Stronger (1889), The Father 1887) and Creditors (1888). All three of these date to the 1880s and Strindberg’s Naturalist phase, albeit that part of it where his public views on women and their role in the pyscho-sexual struggle between the genders had taken a rather negative turn. We’ve adopted the title ‘Strindberg in the Digital Age’ for this workshop, partly because the performances will be recorded digitally and posted on the internet for the edification and entertainment of a much wider audience; but also because we hope to gauge just how poignant Strindberg’s tropes and techniques might be for the younger cohort of modern-day theatre goers, who’ve spent their formative years in a world dominated by Youtube, Facebook and the accelerated engagement with life, the universe and everything. I cannot stress enough in this respect that all three of the performances we are about to see are the product of student endeavour. Apart from some initial mentoring on the life, times and motivations of Strindberg, all three groups have chosen, adapted, and practiced their selected play under their own steam - each bringing their own slant to an established classic. We hope you enjoy them!