Barksdale Plans All Strindberg Season for 07-08 - An April Fools Fantasy

Well, after typing quite a few blog entries (and not knowing if anyone was reading), I've now learned that, in fact, people are reading. They may not be reading the whole thing, but they're reading snippets, and, as we all know, snippets can get you in trouble. The following is the original text of my April Fools blog, which appeared on April 1 without benefit of any April Fools disclaimers in the headline or the opening paragraph. To make a long story short, people read snippets, believed every word, and I got in some hot water. So, read on at your own risk--or perhaps it's at my own risk--knowing that none of the following will appear in Barksdale's 07-08 season. Now as for 08-09 ... hmmm.
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In celebration of the 100th Anniversary of The Ghost Sonata, one of the acclaimed plays that helped most to earn for August Strindberg the title "Father of Naturalism," I’m pleased to announce that Barksdale is planning an all-Strindberg season for 2007-08.

We will open in September with The Dance of Death, produced in association with the Sonya Bjornsen School of Dance. In this riveting drama, Edgar (the Captain) and his wife Alice live in a granite fortress on a desolate island. Bored and embittered, they torment each other with petty intrigues and well-worn accusations. When Kurt, an old friend and Alice’s cousin, arrives to visit, they draw him into their vicious marital games. The Dance of Death is often cited as the inspiration for Edward Albee’s masterwork, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. With this in mind, we will spotlight the connections between these great plays by having the students of the Sonya Bjornsen School appear as dying wolves in the titular dream ballet.

For our holiday offering, we are proud to present the world premiere of a new musical, Hello Julie!, adapted from Strindberg’s immortal Miss Julie, one of the greatest plays of modern drama. With an ebullient score by Gustaf Riksdag and book and lyrics by Carl Olof Reinfeldt-Klempt, Hello Julie! promises to be of interest to the international press. First published in 1888, Miss Julie shocked early reviewers with its frank portrayal of sexuality. Although it was privately produced in Copenhagen in 1889, the play was banned throughout much of Europe and was not produced in Sweden, Strindberg's native country, until 1906. Britain's ban on public performances of the play was not lifted until 1939. Strindberg's drama focuses on the downfall of the aristocratic Miss Julie, a misfit in her society (the author refers to her in his preface as a "man-hating half-woman"). Julie rebels against the restrictions placed on her as a woman and as a member of the upper-class. Her antics result in her social downfall, a loss of respect from her servants, and, ultimately, her suicide.

Songs include Put on Your Mourning Clothes, I Put My Knife in There, Before the Funeral Procession Passes By, and, of course, Hello Julie!

Just in time for Richmond’s Acts of Faith Festival, we will produce the 100th Anniversary production of The Ghost Sonata in January 2008. Strindberg creates a world in which ghosts walk in bright daylight, a beautiful woman is transformed into a mummy and lives in the closet, and the household cook sucks all the nourishment out of the food before she serves it to her masters. The play relates the adventures of a young student, who idealizes the lives of the inhabitants of a stylish apartment building in Stockholm. He makes the acquaintance of the mysterious Jakob Hummel, who helps him to find his way into the apartment, only to find that it is a nest of betrayal, sickness and vampirism. The world, the student learns, is hell and human beings must suffer to achieve salvation.

Faith discussions will follow all Thursday evening performances.

To herald the beginning of Spring, we will feature Strindberg’s seldom produced 1902 comedy, Swan Blood, a Swedish iteration of the classic tale of the ugly duckling, only in Strindberg’s version the duckling is vivisected by his fellow barn animals when he grows into a handsome swan. You’ll laugh yourself silly at the crazy goings-on in the land of the midnight sun.

Finally, providing a delightful cap to a delightful season, we will produce a second world premiere musical—Strindberg in the Park. Inspired by the famous quote from the 1982 film Tootsie, in which Dustin Hoffman’s character talks about playing “Strindberg in the Park,” this new musical will focus on an aging NYC actress who is actually a man but finds career success, finally, reading aloud the complete works of Strindberg to the addicts in Needle Park.

To reserve your season tickets today, call the Barksdale Box Office at 1 (277) 453-6657, that’s 1 (APR) ILF-OOLS! By all means, as Danny Newman would say, SUBSCRIBE NOW!