''To Damascus'' ( sv, Till Damaskus), also known as ''The Road to Damascus'', is a

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

of plays by the Swedish playwright

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

. The first two parts were published in 1898, with the third following in 1904. 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."

Writing process

Strindberg began writing ''Part 1'' in January 1898 in France and by 8 March he had completed the manuscript.Meyer (1985, 374). This marked the first time that Strindberg had written drama in five years. "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." At this time, he considered the first part to be complete in itself; he did not originally intend to follow it with two sequels. He began writing ''Part 2'' during the summer of 1898 in Lund and had completed it by the middle of July. The first two parts were published in a single volume in October 1898. Strindberg arranged for a copy to be sent to Henrik Ibsen, describing him as "the Master, from whom he learned much." Strindberg began to write ''Part 3'' in January 1901. It was published in April 1904.

Analysis and criticism

The

dramatic structure Dramatic structure (also known as dramaturgical structure) is the structure of a dramatic work such as a book, play, or film. There are different kinds of dramatic structures worldwide which have been hypothesized by critics, writers and schola ...

of the first part utilises a circular,

palindromic A palindrome is a word, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as the words ''madam'' or ''racecar'', the date and time ''11/11/11 11:11,'' and the sentence: "A man, a plan, a canal – Pana ...

form of the

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

"station drama." 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.

Peter Szondi Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

describes this form as a type of subjective theatre in which the classical "unity of action" is replaced with a "unity of the self": This technique affects radically the way in which time operates in the drama, producing a static and episodic quality to the scenes. It belongs to what came to be known as "I-dramaturgy."

Production history

''To Damascus'' received its première at the

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The the ...

in Stockholm on 19 November 1900, under the direction of Emil Grandinson.Meyer (1991b, 187). August Palme played the Stranger and

Harriet Bosse Harriet Sofie Bosse (19 February 1878 – 2 November 1961) was a Swedish–Norwegian actress. A celebrity in her day, Bosse is now most commonly remembered as the third wife of the playwright August Strindberg. Bosse began her career in a min ...

played the Lady. 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. The production ran for twenty performances. August Falck directed a production of ''Part 1'' at the

Intimate Theatre The Intimate Theatre was a repertory theatre in Palmers Green, London from 1937 to 1987, and is the name commonly used for St. Monica's Church Hall. History St. Monica's Church Hall was built in 1931, and the actor John Clements turned the buil ...

in Stockholm, which opened on 18 November 1910.Meyer (1985, 543–4). The theatre closed soon after under mounting debts. Another production was staged in

Ystad Ystad (; older da, Ysted) is a town and the seat of Ystad Municipality, in Scania County, Sweden. Ystad had 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates from the 11th century and has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre, a ...

in January 1912 as part of Strindberg's 63rd birthday celebrations. ''Part 1'' received its British première at the

Westminster Theatre The Westminster Theatre was a theatre in London, on Palace Street in Westminster. History The structure on the site was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, by William Dodd with money from his wife Mary Perkins. Through Peter Ri ...

in London, in a production by the Stage Society that opened on 2 May 1937.Meyer (1991b, 188). It was directed by Carl H. Jaffé and starred Francis James and Wanda Rotha. All three parts were performed at the

Traverse Theatre The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco. The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary p ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, in a production that opened on 3 April 1975.Meyer (1985), 383. It was directed by Michael Ockrent and David Gothard and starred

Roy Marsden Roy Marsden (born Roy Anthony Mould; 25 June 1941) is an English actor who portrayed Adam Dalgliesh in the Anglia Television dramatisations (1983–1998) of P. D. James's detective novels, and Neil Burnside in the spy drama ''The Sandbagg ...

and Katherine Schofield.

References

Sources

* Meyer, Michael. 1985. ''Strindberg: A Biography''. Oxford Lives ser. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1987. . * ---, trans. 1991a. ''To Damascus (Part 1)''. In ''Plays: Three.'' By August Strindberg. London: Methuen. 189-276. . * ---. 1991b. Introduction. In ''Plays: Three.'' By August Strindberg. London: Methuen. 179-188. . * 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. . * Ward, John. 1980. ''The Social and Religious Plays of Strindberg.'' London: Athlone. . * Williams, Raymond. 1952. ''Drama from Ibsen to Brecht''. London: Hogarth, 1993. .

External links

Public domain version of ''To Damascus Part 1'', trans. Arvid Paulson.

Public domain etext of ''Road To Damascus Parts 1, 2, and 3''
{{DEFAULTSORT:To Damascus 1898 plays 1900 plays 1904 plays Expressionist plays Plays by August Strindberg Plays set in Sweden