A Dream Play By August Strindberg Adaptation by Caryl Churchill
March 26 - April 4 | 7:30 p.m. Timms Centre for the Arts
www.uab.ca/shows
A DREAM PLAY
BY AUGUST STRINDBERG
Cast: Agnes, Mother, Singer, Kristin, Butcher, Maid and Scientist Father, Hamlet, Lawyer, Gas Mask Dancer, and Lieutenant Glazier, Director, Ceremony, Quarantine Master
Bobbi Goddard Dylan Parsons Hunter Cardinal
Billsticker, Cop, Cermony, Gas Mask Dancer, He, Teacher, Husband, Gentleman and Psychoanalyst Agnes, Stage Door Keeper, Sick Person, Ugly Edith
Joe Perry Kabriel Lilly Maxwell Lebeuf
Officer Agnes, Sick Person, Gas Mask Dancer, Maid and Bishop Agnes, Lina, Ballerina, and Barrister Agnes, Victoria, Sick Person, She, Mother, Wife and Lady Stage Manager, Ceremony, Writer and Blind Man
Morgan Yamada Natalie Davidson Nikki Hulowski Zvonimir Rac
Creative Team: David Kennedy
Director
Zsofia Opra-Szabo
Production Designer
Michael Caron
Sound Designer
Dana Tanner-Kennedy John Battye Rohan Kulkarni
Production Dramaturgs
Amber Borotsik
Movement Coach/Choreographer
Betty Moulton
Voice, Speech and Text Coach
Brooklyn Ritchie
Assistant Director
Camille Maltais
Assistant Set/Props Designer Assistant Costume Designer
Stephanie Bahniuk
Assistant Lighting Designer
Alison Yanota Kate Quinn-Feehan
Stage Manager
Andrea Murphy Morgan Grauman
Assistant Stage Managers
Guido Tondino
Design Advisor Stage Management Advisor Amateur Performance Rights courtesy Casarotto Ramsay Associates
Charlene Roche
Contents • 3 Production Team • 4 After the Inferno • 5 Author Notes • 6 Production History Timeline • 9 Photos • 12 Staff • 14 Mandate • 15 Donors 2
A DREAM PLAY Production Manager
(CONTINUED) Gerry van Hezewyk
Technical Director
Larry Clark
Assistant Technical Director Production Administrative Assistant Wardrobe Manager
Misha Hlebnicov Jessica Parr Joanna Johnston
Cutter
Julie Davie
Wardrobe Assistant
Karen Kucher
Head Scenic Carpenter
Darrell Cooksey
Scenic Carpenters
Andre Lavoie Dan Mienard Jacinda Maxwell
Lead Painter
George Griffiths
Scenic Painters
Chris Chelich, Rachael Alexandre, Johnnie Samycia, Misha Hlebnicov, Allison Robinson, Maria Burkinshaw, Hannah Matiachuk
Properties Master
Jane Kline
Lead Props Builder
Lore Green Kathleen Mulder
Props Builder Lighting Supervisor
Jeff Osterlin
Head of Lighting
Cheyenne Sykes
Lighting Technicians
Stephanie Bahniuk, Alstair Elliot, Matthew Koyata, Julianna Labots, Camille Maltais,Rhys Martin, Jacinda Maxwell, Mattia Poulin, Alison Yanota
Projection Supervisor Head of Sound
Elijah Lindenberger Julianna Labots
Running Crew Lighting/Projection Operator Sound Operator Stage Crew
Aidan Ware Julianna Labots Misha Hlebnicov Lore Green Elise Jason
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AFTER THE INFERNO
BY DANA TANNER-KENNEDY, JOHN BATTYE AND ROHAN KULKARNI their plays, poems, and paintings with mystical resonances in an effort to lift the veil that covered the mysteries of life and unlock the secret codes of the universe.Between the anxiety of a life in poverty, and an increasing interest in and fear of the occult, Strindberg suffered a series of psychotic breakdowns. Much like the biblical figure Job, Strindberg thought himself persecuted by misfortune and hardship. In his literary autobiography Inferno, Strindberg writes about the feeling of some mysterious or malevolent force tampering with his destiny. After a succession of crises Strindberg went to Austria to see his daughter, an event that triggered a new intellectual and religious upheaval within him.
August Strindberg
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ugust Strindberg was a man divided. A protean and prolific artist and a dabbler in chemistry, alchemy, and the occult, Strindberg’s career as a writer blossomed in the late-19th Century when his native Sweden awoke to the clarion call of Modernism. In his early plays, such as The Father and Miss Julie, he embraced the tenets of Modernism’s first movements—Realism and Naturalism—exploring themes of crime, heredity, and the effects of environment on human character. The man who wrote A Dream Play, however, was one changed fundamentally by a descent into madness. In 1894, after his second marriage failed, Strindberg moved away from his family to Paris. There he spent time in avant-garde circles, where he became enamored of the Symbolists, whose work was an ideological break from the Naturalist style with which he was familiar. Shunning the Naturalist obsession with external reality, the Symbolists turned their gaze inward, endowing 4
As he awoke from this period—which he termed his “Inferno Crisis”—Strindberg reevaluated his beliefs and his place in the world. Inspired by his readings of the 18th Century Swedish mystic Swedenborg and the 19th Century German philosopher Schopenhauer, he now believed in a benevolent Creator who punished humanity to impart greater understanding and expected them to fulfill life’s duties and obligation with devotion. Strindberg concluded that his punishment, the earthly hell of his Inferno Crisis, was meted out because of his own attempt at isolation. This new outlook caused a radical reimagining of his dramatic writing. In his post-Inferno period of artistic ferment, Strindberg experimented wildly with form and content, effectively marrying the Naturalist desire to capture objective experience with the Symbolist desire to render the subjective in external space. The dream, and the attempt at making it a concrete reality, becomes the subject of some of his later works— Ghost Sonata, To Damascus, and A Dream Play. Honouring Strindberg’s vision behind staging the dream world, and adding her unique style to it, Caryl Churchill adapted A Dream Play in 2005 for the National Theatre in London. This production features that adaptation, which strips down the text and employs Churchill’s characteristically crisp language to capture the essence of the dream as she imagines it.
AUTHOR NOTES
BY AUGUST STRINDBERG
The 1890 photograph “The Ghost of Bernadette Soubirous,” by an anonymous artist, is an eerie example of a multiple exposure image used in creating so-called “spirit photography.” This turn-of-the-century obsession with capturing the unseen world was one that Strindberg shared
Strindberg added this preface to the original text, explaining his logic of the dream.
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s with his earlier dream play, To Damascus, the author has in this dream play sought to imitate the disjointed yet seemingly logical shape of a dream. Everything can happen, everything is possible and probable. Time and place do not exist; the imagination spins, weaving new patterns on a flimsy basis of reality: a mixture of memories, experiences, free associations, absurdities and improvisations. The characters split, double, multiply, evaporate, condense, dissolve and merge. But one consciousness rules them all: the dreamer’s; for him there are no secrets, no inconsistencies, no scruples and no laws. He does not judge or acquit, he merely relates; and, because a dream is usually painful rather than pleasant, a tone of melancholy and compassion for all living creatures permeates the rambling narrative. Sleep, the liberator, often feels like torture, but when the torment is at its worst, the moment of awakening comes and reconciles the sufferer with reality, which, regardless of how painful it might be, is at this very moment a joy compared to the agonies of dreaming.
Fall Hours:
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PRODUCTION HISTORY 1907 Directed by Victor Castegren and designed by Carl Grabow, the play premiered at Svenska Teatern (The Swedish Theatre). The staging was very literal, and the acting wavered between Naturalist and Symbolist styles, confusing the audience. Strindberg’s ex-wife, Harriet Bosse (pictured here), played Agnes.
1916 The German premiere, directed by Rudolf Bernauer, was a highly Expressionist, fairy tale-like drama, hugely influential on all future productions. Designer Sven Gade used hues of blue to create the feeling of an open, starry sky. Several images blurred and blended into each other, making the characters seem like apparitions.
1935 Directed by Olof Molander, the Swedish Dramaten production became the standard for a ‘good’ interpretation of A Dream Play. It was hyperrealistic, minimalist, and poetic.
1928 Antonin Artaud directed a Surrealist-inspired version in Paris, which was performed on a bare stage and used props to animate the dream world. It was a noisy fiasco, with the audience yelling insults at the stage, and a riot broke out after Artaud began to shout profanities at the audience.
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BY DANA TANNER-KENNEDY, JOHN BATTYE AND ROHAN KULKARNI 1998 Robert Wilson’s production in Stockholm featured his characteristic hyper-visual style, using lush imagery and hieratic movement to colour the action. 1994 Directed by Robert Lepage at Dramaten, the entire action was confined to a claustrophobic,three sided cube suspended above water, and it used several projections and lighting changes to create the dream.
1970
2005
Performed at Dramaten, Swedish director Ingmar Bergman radically re-imagined the play,retitling it The Dreamplay and clearly casting the character of the Writer as the play’s central dreamer. The staging was stark and contained, and the part of Agnes was played by two actors simultaneously. Bergman also directed it in 1977 and 1986 (pictured here.)
Katie Mitchell’s production for the National Theatre in London combined Caryl Churchill’s adaptation of Strindberg with stagings of the actors’ personal dreams.
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THREEPENNY OPERA
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
The acting of the cast is first rate...the eight-piece professional orchestra (under the experienced baton of Peter Dala) is excellent...Robert Shannon’s industrial strength, multi-level set is conducive and Marie Nychka’s spirited vaudevillian steps and fiery tangos are great fun and delivered with gusto by the cast. - Colin MacLean, Edmonton Sun
Photography: Ed Ellis Photography
For discerning readers AvenueEdmonton.com
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(780) 425-0173 i n f o @ b r i d g e s c a t e r i n g. c a w w w. b r i d g e s c a t e r i n g. c a
Administrative Staff Kathleen Weiss: Chair, Department of Drama Julie Brown: Assistant Chair Administration David Prestley: Theatre Administrator / Events Coordinator Jessica Parr: Box Office Coordinator / Events Assistant Ruth Vander Woude: Graduate Advisor / Chair’s EA Connie Golden: Undergraduate Advisor Helen Baggaley: Office Coordinator With assistance from Faculty of Arts staff: Salena Kitteringham: Fine Arts Communications Lead Terah Jans: Fine Arts Marketing Specialist Kyle Ireland: Fine Arts Recruitment Coordinator
Production Staff
Gerry van Hezewyk: Production Manager / Administrative Professional Officer Larry Clark: Technical Director, Timms Centre for the Arts Darrell Cooksey: Head Carpenter Julie Davie: Cutter Joanna Johnston: Costume Manager Jane Kline: Property Master Karen Kucher: Costumer, Fine Arts Building Don MacKenzie: Technical Director, Fine Arts Building Jeff Osterlin: Lighting Supervisor Jessica Parr: Production Administrative Assistant Matthew Skopyk: Second Playing Space Coordinator / Sound Supervisor
Front of House
Bonita Akai, Angela Cotton, Danielle Dugan, Alisdair Gadowsky, Bob Gaudet, Terri Gingras, Tasreen Hudson, Laura Norton, Candice Stollery, Faye Stollery, Cheryl Vandergraaf and Catherine Vielguth Volunteers: Christian Badiu, Debbie Beaver, Oleg Bogatryrevich, Susan Box, Franco Correa, Sarah Culkin, Joan Damkjar, Alana De Melo, Jonathan Durynek, Mary and Gene Ewanyshyn, Thom Friesen, Ron Gleason, Darcy Hoover-Correa, Mary Ingraham, Marie-AndrĂŠe Lachapelle, Don Lavigne, Kabriel Lilly, Connie Logan, Sareeta Lopez, Tom and Gillian McGovern, Marlene Maylj, Connor Meeker, Jennifer Morely, Joe Perry, Alice Petruk, David Prestley, Leila Raye-Crofton, and Jane Voloboeva
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U OF A STUDIO THEATRE MANDATE • To provide sterling training and educational opportunities for BFA acting, technical theatre and stage management students, and MFA design, directing and MA dramaturgy students • To provide research / creative activity opportunities for the Department of Drama’s faculty practitioners • To provide opportunities for connections with departments across campus through the choice of plays which have cultural, literary and historical significance • To provide opportunities for the community at large to engage with the Department of Drama through guest artist collaboration and attendance as audience members Kathleen Weiss, Artistic Director, U of A Studio Theatre and Chair, Department of Drama
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DONORS H
eartfelt thanks to the individuals, foundations and organizations listed below for recognizing the importance of the arts by directly investing in the Department of Drama’s innovation and leadership in theatre training and performance. A round of applause to our supporters!
Baha R. Abu-Laban Janet Allcock Giovanna Anselmo Vera Apletree Doug Armstrong Annalisa C. Baer Barbara Baer Pillay Roderick E. Banks James T. Barmby PHD David Barnet & Edith Mitchell Marg Barrie William Barton Carole Barton Joan Bensted William Betteridge Richard Bowes David Brindley Julie Brown Dr Adolf Buse Rachel Christopher Brent Christopherson Penny Coates Faye Cohen Dr Lesley B. Cormack Brian Crummy Brian J. Deedrick Robert Desmarais W Gifford Edmonds Jacqueline Evenson John & Bunny Ferguson Mike Giles
Ron & Sheila Gooding Melvina M. Gowda Bohdan Harasymiw P Ruth Harle Dr Murray Hawkins Christopher Head Bonnie Irwin Jeanne Irwin Pavel and Sylva Jelen Dr Joan M Johnston Gerry Kendal Michelle Kennedy Matthew Kloster Karen Kucher Patricia Langan Bill Lauder Peggy M Marko Gordon McIntosh Rod McLeod Mary Ellen Meszaros Betty Moulton Dr Audrey O’Brien Dale Olausen Esther Ondrack Mary-Ellen M. Perley-Waugh Tom A. Richards Dr Owen Ricker Judith Robinson Kenneth L. Roy Valerie Sarty R Brenda Devlin Schmidt
This list includes those who donated to various Drama funds from December 1, 2013 - November 30, 2014. Apologies for inadvertent omissions or errors. Contact 780-492-2271 for corrections.
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2 for Pride