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Strindberg & The Chamber Plays

  • Strindberg's Biography
  • The Intimate Theater
  • Production Blog
  • The Director Speaks
  • The Translator Speaks
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  • Burned House
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Further Studies

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  • Translation Comparisons
  • Ask the Artists
  • Music from The Chamber Plays
The Pelican
1907
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Artist Interviews

09.14.2012
The Pelican Interview
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Bennett Fisher: Paul, I know that you’ve spent quite a bit of time with this play: you’ve directed The Pelican, you have the wonderful essay on performance strategies of The Pelican. As you come back… Read more »

An artist's rendition of
JAMES CARPENTER from The Chamber Plays

Mouse over the icons below to learn about each play.

Storm (1907) at-a-glance

In Storm, an elderly gentleman's peace is shattered when his ex-wife becomes his new upstairs neighbor.

"How do they expect me to steer with so many passions blowing! I can't ease their suffering or change their course."
—The Gentleman, Storm

Burned House (1907) at-a-glance

In Burned House, prodigal son Arvid returns to his hometown to find that his childhood home burned down the night before. Arvid sifts through the ashes to uncover the dark secrets hidden by his family and the town.

"Suffering leads to patience; patience provides experience; experience leads to hope; and hope doesn't allow itself to be shamed."
—The Stranger, Burned House

The Ghost Sonata (1908) at-a-glance

The Ghost Sonata tells the story of a strange encounter between a student and an old man and begins the morning after a terrible fire. A "ghost supper" is shared in a round room, secrets are divulged, plots are foiled, and illusions are shattered.

"There is poison that takes away sight and poison that opens the eyes—I must have been born with the latter for I can't see the ugly as beautiful nor call evil goodness."
—The Student, The Ghost Sonata

The Pelican (1907) at-a-glance

Based on the myth that a pelican sheds its own blood to feed its young, The Pelican presents a family where the opposite is true. The widow Elise plots with her lover to steal her children's inheritance while they astarve in their own home, but the truth sparks a small revolution.

"If I could only do the evil I want to do, you would cease to exist. Why is it so hard to do evil? When I lift my hand against you, I only strike myself..."
—Gerda, The Pelican

The Black Glove (1911) at-a-glance

In The Black Glove, a lost black glove found in the entry way to a large apartment building the day before Christmas Eve mystically passes through the hands of many of its residents as it bestows a Christmas spirit.

"A few harvests still you can bring in.
And though you won't yourself enjoy the fruit,
You can give it all away.
For it's more blessed to give than to receive,
And sacrifice makes us happy&mdash."
—The Tomte, The Black Glove

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