Saved the best for last: Dr Glas (London april 2013 part 5)

By pure coincidence I had saved the best for last on this trip. I came to london with high expectations for a few plays, some lived up to it, some disappointed to a certain extent... I really didn't know what to expect from Dr Glas, a one man show, performed in Swedish with English subtitles projected to the top of the set.

It wasn't hard to get a ticket for this one, I guess the Swedish language part of this deal scared some people off, even with the raving reviews it had received in both the Swedish press on the original run and the UK press for this London run.


Krister Henriksson was absolutely marvelous in this one man show, he had all of us mesmerized from beginning to end with his narrative performance... not that it felt narrative at all, but as a one man show there is no escaping the soliloquy in having to take us by the hand and tell the story along with acting out the main characters part.

The set design was amazing, one big room, sparse furniture. It managed to transform into the few different places that Dr Glas was supposed to be during this performance with just a change of light and  placement of the character himself in the room... no set changes necessary to make us believe he was either in his office, or on a street-side terrace sipping his drink and contemplating what to do next, or walking on the bridge and seeing his abhorred patient walking by.

The story was gripping, the performance excellent, the subtitles not at all disturbing in the experience.
According to Hjalmar Söderberg's book the character is supposed to be in his thirties, and Krister Henrikson is definitely not, but it doesn't matter at all in this production. As the protagonist of this story Doktor Glas let's us follow him in his memories, we read his journal with him, age of the character has no meaning, we could be reading in real time or we could be remembering times long gone.
Definitely THE best play of this trip, and if mr Henriksson decides to take it somewhere else next I would strongly recommend going, you will not be disappointed!

As I'm only very slowing getting into the habit of trying to review a play, and this play deserves all the praise critics have lauded it with I want to leave you with these professional words:

Kate Kellaway

• theguardian.com
, Friday 19 April 2013

It might seem a doomed idea to turn Hjalmar Soderberg's 1905 novel Doktor Glas into a one-man show. It caused a scandal when first published because of its treatment of sex, death and suicide – but it is written in journal form. How to dramatise its internal quality? Krister Henriksson, whose initiative this is, knows exactly how. Familiar asHenning Mankell's Wallander in the TV series, Henriksson is one of Sweden's great actors, and this 90-minute soliloquy as Doktor Glas – much feted in Scandinavia – is a tour de force. He co-directs with Peder Bjurman, who is also the show's masterly designer. A stark Scandinavian consulting room becomes the manifestation of a tormented mind, its changing colours – brilliantly lit by Linus Fellbom – also suggestive of morning sun, blood and snow. Doktor Glas is testing the walls of his own life.

Unhappily dressed in a brown suit, he rubs a folded oblong of handkerchief on to a perspiring brow as he reveals his loathing for Reverend Gregorius, "a toadstool in the pulpit", and his longing for the Reverend's wife, who is having an adulterous affair elsewhere. What is riveting is the nuanced closework of Henriksson's performance. His countenance – its clearings, contortions and forced smile – holds us rapt. When he extends an arm, he has the air of a baffled host, a gesture that deepens our sense of his isolation. He has a voice for every character: his high, pitiful, feminine impersonation of Mrs Gregorius convinces you he was never cut out to be her lover.

Doktor Glas's loneliness continues to deepen. And even in translation, the integrity of the writing (performed in Swedish with subtitles) compels. The play is a hybrid: thriller, metaphysical essay with poetic moments and occasional bleak jokes. It makes you long to read a novel that has been bizarrely neglected in the UK.

and the info from the official website:

ABOUT DOKTOR GLAS

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Krister Henriksson, who is best known as Wallander in Henning Mankell’s widely praised Swedish TV series, will make his West End debut in Doktor Glas, which transfers to London following its acclaimed run at Sweden’s National Theatre. Adapted from the classic novel by Hjalmar Söderberg and performed in its original Swedish with English surtitles, Doktor Glas will run at the Wyndham’s Theatre, a Delfont Macintosh Theatre, from 16 April to 11 May 2013.

Doktor Glas tells the story of a 19th century physician who falls madly in love with the beautiful young wife of a corrupt clergyman. When she confides in him that her marriage is making her miserable, he agrees to help in whatever way he can. Soon Doktor Glas finds himself torn between his passion and his morality, and drives the play towards its shocking climax.

CAST AND CREATIVES

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KRISTER HENRIKSSON

Krister Henriksson is one of Sweden’s most highly respected and admired actors who made his breakthrough at the Stockholm City Theatre in the lead role of Peer Gynt. He has played a string of major roles on the world’s most respected stages, and has performed in plays by Shakespeare, Beckett, Strindberg, Ibsen, Miller, Pinter and Noren. He worked alongside Ingmar Bergman when he directed him in A Winter’s Tale at the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern). Later Bergman handpicked Henriksson for the role as the young Bergman in Liv Ullman’s film Faithless (Trolösa), which was based on Bergman’s manuscript.      

In his native Sweden and across the world, Krister is best known for his role in the TV adaptation of Henning Mankell’s police drama Wallander. The grittiness of his performance has won him plaudits from critics across the globe and has spawned the British remake starring Kenneth Branagh.He has also won rave reviews for his stage portrayal in Doktor Glas, which has toured extensively around Sweden and other Nordic countries.

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DIRECTOR and SET DESIGNER - PEDER BJURMAN

Acclaimed director and writer, Peder Bjurman, works in the field of visual theatre, combining movement, imagery and music along with conceptually abstract or narrative texts. His performances often blend the tragic with either the poetic or the comic, and his stagings are  often shown in smaller, experimental venues as well as the larger theatres. Conscious of every feature of his productions, Bjurman gives equal importance to each separate element , including the lighting, sound, set and the actors’ performances, often employing cutting-edge stage technology and techniques. His work is frequently devised and developed in close collaboration with the ensemble cast or with other artists, composers, designers and stage tech companies.

Since 1991, Peder Bjurman has collaborated with Swedish performance companies and artists such as Charlotte Engelkes, Bogdan Szyber and Carina Reich. His latest productions, including Slapstick at Rival, Enter Numan at The House of Dance in Stockholm, and Sisyphus at Södra teatern in Stockholm, were all much acclaimed by critics and audiences.
Bjurman also provided the original idea for The Far Side of the Moon, directed and performed by Robert Lepage, with music by Laurie Anderson. The play was turned into a feature film, which itself received a nomination during the 2002 Academy Awards. He co-wrote The Andersen Project, commissioned by the Andersen Jubilee, which opened in Copenhagen during June 2005. The plays tours continually to this day, around the world. The new collaboration with Robert Lepege in 2011-15, Cartes, is a 12-hour long epic following the Orient-Occident relations and divided into four parts.

The artistic collaboration with actor Krister Henriksson, Doktor Glas, at the Vasa theatre in Stockholm, premiered in 2006.

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LIGHTING DESIGNER - LINUS FELLBOM

Since his debut as a lighting designer 1995 he has designed lighting for over 170
productions. He has worked at most of the bigger venues around Sweden and has also been engaged at theatres and opera houses in cities like Oldenburg, Göttingen, Stuttgart, Berlin, Innsbruck, Vienna, Riga, Lodz, Warsaw, Cape Town, New York, Edinburgh, Leeds, London,Nancy, Valencia, Oslo and Copenhagen. In 2005 Linus made his debut as a stage director with ”Sympathy for the Devil” by Lucas Svensson at Strindberg’s Intimate Theatre in Stockholm.

Recent credits as Lighting Designer includes:
“On – Emotion” by Mick Gordon (also director) and Paul Brooks at Soho Theatre in London. “Scorched” by Wajdi Mouawad at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, directed by Rune David Grue. “Admeto” by Georg Friederich Händel at the Händel Festival, Deutsches Theater, Göttingen and at the Edinburgh International Festival of Theatre, directed by Doris Dörrie. “A Midsummer Nights Dream” by Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn at Staatsoper Wien, choreography by Jorma Elo. “Kristina” by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Lars Rudolfsson (also director) at Royal Albert Hall. “The Portrait” by Mieczyslaw Weinberg at Opera North, Leeds and Opéra National de Lorraine, Nancy, directed by David Pountney. “Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at Hamburger Staatsoper, directed by Doris Dörrie. “Kristina från Duvemåla” by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Lars Rudolfsson (also director) at Svenska Teatern in Helsinki. “Thaïs” by Jules Massenet at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, directed by Nicola Raab.

Credits as Set Designer includes:
“Sympathy for the Devil” by Lucas Svensson at Strindberg’s Intimate Theatre.
”Vi är Dom” at Orionteatern in Stockholm, Choreography by Camilla Ekelöf.
”A Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion at Göteborgs Stadsteater, directed by Ronnie Hallgren. “Creditors“ by August Strindberg for Riksteatern in Sweden.
”Red in 3.” by Jorma Elo for the Stuttgarter Ballett.

Credits as Director includes:
William Shakespeare’s ”Richard III” for Riksteatern in Sweden.
Carl Maria von Weber’s “Freischütz” for the Swedish Folkopera in Stockholm.
August Strindberg’s “Creditors” for Riksteatern in Sweden.
Astrid Lindgren’s “Ronja Rövardotter” at Järnverket in Iggesund.
Lucas Svensson’s “Maria Callas – Unanswered Life” at Stockholms Stadsteater.

Upcoming work 2013:
”Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at Teatro Del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, directed by Lorenzo Marianni.
“Romeo & Juliet” a new ballet piece by Mats Ek with music by Pjotor Iljitj Tjajkovskij at the Royal Opera in Stockholm.
“Otello” by Giuseppe Verdi at the Royal Opera Copenhagen, directed by Nicola Raab.