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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 February 2022
Strindberg's never-abandoned plans for having an “experimental theatre” at his disposal were at the point of fulfillment early in 1907 when, after a long pause, he again began to write plays. During the previous autumn he had become acquainted with the young director August Falck, and they had agreed to found a theatre. It was in anticipation of its opening that Strindberg, during the first half of 1907 wrote the four chamber plays which more than any other of his works have established his reputation as a revolutionary spirit in the art of the drama.
In the beginning this was not his purpose. The name chamber play had been taken from Reinhardt's Kammerspielhaus about which he had read articles in German periodicals, later found, with passages marked, in his library. His basic idea was to create an intimate theatre for which he imagined a repertoire in a subdued naturalistic style.
1 Intima Teatern in Stockholm which opened on November 26, 1907 with The Pelican, played an exclusively Strindbergian repertoire for the following three years. In all, twenty-four of Strindberg's plays were presented during this period; the total number of performances reached 1,147.
2 Paul, August, Min Strindbergsbok (Stockholm, 1930), p. 178.Google Scholar
3 “From a letter to Emil Schering, his German translator, March 29, 1907.
4 Strindberg, August, Öppna brev till Intima Teatern (Open Letters to the Intima Theatre), Samlade skrifter, vol. 50 (Stockholm, 1919), p. 291.Google Scholar
5 Nonetheless, this performance at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, December 1920, was a lesson in the dramatic possibilities of the play, according to Ollen, Gunnar. See his Strindbergs dramatik (Stockholm, 1948), p. 233.Google Scholar
6 Open Letters, p. 12.
7 Strindberg, August, Tjänstekvinnans son 1 (The Son of the Bondwoman 1), Samlade skrifter, vol. 18 (Stockholm, 1919), p. 333 ff.Google Scholar
8 Open Letters, p. 17.
9 Falck, August, Fem år med Strindberg (Stockholm, 1935), p. 192.Google Scholar
10 Open Letters, p. 289.
11 Open Letters, p. 70.
12 Falck, p. 208.
13 Falck, p.275.
14 Open Letters, p. 220.
15 Open Letters, p. 196.
16 Open Letters, p. 53.
17 Letter to Schering, April 24, 1907. Cf. Open Letters, p. 171.
18 Letter to Schering, January 18, 1902.