The Intimate Theatre

In 1907 Strindberg embarked on a new theatrical venture that evolved as a practice and aesthetic very different from the naturalistic tendencies of the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre some twenty years earlier. He and the young actor-manager August Falck founded the Intimate Theatre in Stockholm, which opened with the premiere of Strindberg’s Chamber Play The Pelican on 26 November 1907 and closed in December 1910. The idea was to create an intimate theatre modelled on Max Reinhardt’s Kleines Theater and Kammerspiel-Haus, which opened in Berlin in 1902 and 1906 respectively. Reinhardt’s programme for the latter, writes Strindberg in his ‘Memorandums for the Members of the Intimate Theatre’, is indicated by the naming of his project: ‘the concept of chamber music transferred into drama’ (Strindberg 1966a: 19). According to the original plans, Strindberg and Falck sought to perform modern and classical plays that would fit the intimate atmosphere and the chamber play format: a single ‘strong, highly significant motif’ (Strindberg 1966a: 19), few characters, and minimal staging requirements. During three years of functioning the Intimate Theatre produced twenty-four Strindberg plays and gave altogether 1,025 performances, some of which comprised of a double bill. The most successful productions were those of Easter, with 182 performances, and Swanwhite – directed by Strindberg – with 152 performances. Falck’s decision to stage Maeterlinck’s The Intruder in 1910 aroused Strindberg’s frustration, which, along with financial difficulties, led to the closing of the theatre (Strindberg 1966a: 12–14). Figure 2 The Father at the Intimate Theatre, Stockholm, directed by August Strindberg, 1908. Courtesy of the Strindberg Museum, Stockholm, Sweden. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203852880/3e729c8a-bca0-411e-bd3a-ada4245caa99/content/fig6_2_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>