A Dream Playwritten byAugustus Strindbergdirected byMehmet Izbudakperformed atThe Wimbledon Studio TheatreMay 1996 |
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A Dream Playwritten byAugustus Strindbergdirected byMehmet Izbudakperformed atThe Wimbledon Studio TheatreMay 1996 |
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Augustus Strindberg wrote A Dream Play in 1901 at the age of fifty-two. It was his favourite among all his works; in a letter to his publisher in 1906 he said that he prized it more than anything he had written, and in 1907 described it as "my most beloved play, child of my greatest pain." The matter and mood of it stemmed directly from his third, final and volcanic marriage, with the Norwegian actress Harriet Bosse.
His first marriage, with the Finnish actress Siri Von Essen, had ended in 1891 after fourteen painful years; his second, with the Austrian journalist Frida von Uhl in 1893, had lasted little more than twelve months. He had then hovered for a year on the brink of complete insanity, writing nothing and devoting himself to alchemy, in particular to the attempted making of gold. Religion, of all things for so confirmed an atheist, had saved him. Under the influence of the Swedish theologian Swedenborg he had come to believe that suffering makes souls, and that everything was planned in detail by a just and merciful Providence. During the four years 1898-1901 he completed no less than twenty plays including the three parts of To Damascus, the two parts of Dance of Death, Easter, The Bridal Crown, There are Crimes and Crimes, Erik the Fourteenth and, finally, A Dream Play.
In a preface to his play he wrote:
"In this dream play... the author has attempted to imitate the inconsequent yet transparently logical shape of a dream. Everything can happen, everything is possible and probable. Time and space do not exist; on an insignificant basis of reality the imagination spins, weaving new patterns; a mixture of memories, experiences, free fancies, incongruities and improvisations. The characters split, double, multiply, evaporate, condense, disperse, assemble. But one consciousness rules over them all, that of the dreamer; for him there are no secrets, no illogicalities, no scruples, no laws. He neither acquits nor condemns, but merely relates; and, just as a dream is more often painful than happy, so an undertone of melancholy and of pity for all mortal beings accompanies this flickering tale".
Mehmet Izbudak, Director
| Agnes / Indra's daughter | ~ | Donna Horsey |
| Poet | ~ | Richard C. Broughton |
| Advocate | ~ | Jayne Blumire |
| Officer | ~ | John Gargrave |
| Stage Door Keeper / Chancellor | ~ | Val Foskett |
| Glazier / Blind Man / Father | ~ | James Grayston |
| Schoolmistress / Dean of Theology / Mother | ~ | Pat Bryant |
| Bill Poster / Quarantine Master / Dean of Philosophy | ~ | Tony Strong |
| Lisa / Kristin / Dean of Medicine | ~ | Katrina Vestuto |
| Voice of Indra | ~ | Mehmet C. Izbudak |
| Director | ~ | Mehmet C. Izbudak |
| Stage Manager | ~ | Sarah Hewitt |
| Lighting | ~ | Sarah Hewitt |
| Sound | ~ | Simon Harris |
| Set Construction | ~ | David Freeman |
| Artwork | ~ | Mehmet C. Izbudak |
| Programme Design | ~ | Simon Harris, Val Foskett |
| Props Construction | ~ | David Freeman, Simon Harris |
| Photography | ~ | Peter Brearey |
| Box Office & Front of House | ~ | Penny Stone, Kathie Arundell |
| Publicity | ~ | Tony Strong |
| Webpage | ~ | Matthew Petty |
Donna Horsey as Agnes
