''Gertrud'' is a Swedish 1906

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

(

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

), in three parts, by author and playwright Hjalmar Söderberg.

Story description

The play is a modern relationship

. The main characters are the middle-aged Gertrud and three men she has a relationship with: her husband Gustav Kanning, a politician; her former lover Gabriel Lidman, an older poet; and her newfound love Erland Jansson, a young composer. All three desire her and have desired her in a different way. The first act is set in Gustaf Kanning's study at his home, where Gertrud, in the first scene, sits in the dark awaiting her husband's return from work. She is going to tell she is leaving him for her newfound love, and her former love interest suddenly returns from a long trip overseas. Gertrud is faced with questions about the sacrifice she is making for Jansson, and the reactions of Kanning and Lidman. The play tackles themes of love, passion, the feeling of being trapped and confined in a marriage, the need of love, the search of the love, the ontology of real love, the right to love and be loved, love and closeness in a relationship, and differences between men and women. The original production in Sweden premiered on February 13, 1907, at the old

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre (, 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 theatre has been at its present lo ...

featuring Gerda Lundequist in the title role.

Characters

*Gertrud Kanning *Gustav Kanning *Gabriel Lidman *Erland Jansson *Kanning's mother *The White Shape

Notable productions

*The original 1907 staging with Gerda Lundequist as ''Gertrud'' by the

. *The 1953

staging with

Eva Dahlbeck Eva Elisabet Dahlbeck (8 March 1920 – 8 February 2008) was a Swedes, Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She received a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film ''Brink of Life'' (1958). Dahlbeck ...

as ''Gertrud''. *The 1999 TV-theatre adaption (SVT) with

Marie Richardson Marie Elisabet Richardson (born 6 June 1959) is a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She studied at the Teaterhögskolan i Stockholm from 1982 to 1985 and has been employed by The Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm ever since. Richa ...

as ''Gertrud''.

Film adaptation

*1964 – '' Gertrud'' (directed by

Carl Theodor Dreyer Carl Theodor Dreyer (; 3 February 1889 – 20 March 1968), commonly known as Carl Th. Dreyer, was a Danish film director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers in history, his movies are noted for emotional austerity ...

)

External links

''Gertrud'': notes of production at Målarsalen, the Royal Dramatic Theatre’s small stage, 2014
Dramaten.se: John Caird (director)

Sources

* Schamus, James, 2008: ''Carl Theodor Dreyer's Gertrud: The Moving Word''. University of Washington Press {{DEFAULTSORT:Gertrud (Play) 1906 plays Swedish plays Plays set in Sweden Plays set in the 1900s Works by Hjalmar Söderberg Swedish plays adapted into films