Plays 2: The Dance of Death / A Dream Play / The Stronger

by August Strindberg, Michael Meyer (Introduction)

The second volume in the series of authoritative Methuen editions of Strindberg's Collected Plays



This volume contains two of Strindberg's best-known plays from the years following his mental breakdown: the expressionist masterpiece A Dream Play (1901), which he described as 'my most beloved play, child of my greatest pain'; and both parts of The Dance of Death (1900), a terrifying analysis of a tormented marriage: 'it leaves an astonishing, an almost unaccountable, impression of genius … as a beggar's cloak full of holes may have a kind of majestic beauty when the wind fills it, so this broken drama, having unmistakably the winds of vision in it, has beauty and dignity and power' (The Times, 1928). Also included is his earlier short play The Stronger (1889), a fascinating study of the power of personality.
"Michael Meyer is the translator most actors turn to when seeking a definitive text" (Sunday Times)

Genres: Plays, Swedish Literature, Drama

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1901

About the author

Johan August Strindberg, a Swede, wrote psychological realism of noted novels and plays, including Miss Julie (1888) and The Dance of Death (1901).

Johan August Strindberg painted. He alongside Henrik Ibsen, Søren Kierkegaard, Selma Lagerlöf, Hans Christian Andersen, and Snorri Sturluson arguably most influenced of all famous Scandinavian authors. People know this father of modern theatre. His work falls into major literary movements of naturalism and expressionism. People widely read him internationally to this day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_...

Reviews

[Takipsilim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps Strindberg's most accomplished plays, the second collection of Methuen's Srindberg drama series includes "The Dance of Death", Strindberg's depiction of a marriage from hell; "A Dream Play", his masterpiece; and "The Stronger", arguably the finest one-act drama penned for the stage. The master at his most versatile.

[Susan G. Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and sweet review: A Dream Play touched and inspired me when I first encountered it in college. I still adore Strindberg's uniquely insightful reflection on the human condition.