August Strindberg s Creditors
£6.22
Cobweb-free Strindberg - I am Swedish, and had the opportunity to see David Greig s adaptation of Strindberg s Creditors on stage at the Donmare Warehouse theatre in London. My first reaction after watching the production was Where can I buy the text? Creditors is a play about emotional and intellectual debit and credit in human relationships. Why and how do we give and receive, why and how is re-payment due - or is it? These questions should feel relevant to all of us, unfortunately, Strindberg s original play is not readily accessible to the modern reader/spectator. The full Swedish version of Creditors has its share of cobwebs and dust: expressions and allusions understandable only in its specific context of time, place and culture. Strindberg being the Swedish national champion of the aphorism, the pearls are there - but the oysters take a lot of hammering to crack. Overall, David Greig s adaptation removes the debris admirably. He adheres closely to the original, but where the local convolutions would require repeated readings and access to period references, or where a verbatim translation would simply miss the point, he cuts straight to the gist and makes it perfectly clear to the first-time spectator. I have a few minor quibbles with the translator s choices, where connotations and ambiguities might have been conserved for added dimensions. Still, even before producing the play in Swedish one ought to take a few hints from David Greig on how to create a playable and watchable adaptation of it. Creditors show how age, gender, pre-conceived notions and problems of self-image all get in the way of genuine human interaction. Greig s adaptation allows people of 2008 to use Strindberg s mirror to examine their own lives. I definitely recommend it to international readers looking for a suitable first acquaintance with Strindberg s realistic plays, or with the author in general.