TEHRAN-Iranshahr Theater Complex in Tehran will stage the performance of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s “Play Strindberg” from Monday.

Mohammadreza Maleki has directed the play and also performed in it along with Majid Asadi and Safura Khoshtinat, ILNA reported.

“Play Strindberg” is a comedy play by the Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt, written in 1968 and published in 1969. It is a free adaptation of August Strindberg's “The Dance of Death” (1900), using Strindberg's characters. The title is a reference to Jacques Loussier's “Play Bach” series of recordings.

In August Strindberg's play, a husband and wife live in mutual hatred, bound together by the convention itself. Friedrich Durrenmatt's 1969 dark comedy parodied Strindberg and carried the notion even further into a surreal and almost hallucinogenic world of wicked caricature. The story is thin and filled with contrivances, but the actors for whom he created it have a chance for 90 uninterrupted minutes to practice their craft with gleeful abandon.

The play is a boxing match in 12 rounds, and the principals are introduced as combatants. Edgar is a failed military man who has been exiled to a remote island, where the inhabitants ostracize him further because of his abrasive nature. His wife, Alice, is a purported actress who believes that marriage destroyed her chances for greatness. The third member of the menage is Kurt, a cousin of Alice's and, it is later learned, her former lover. The bell rings. The action commences.

Durrenmatt's unhappy marriages may be the catalyst for his clever satire, but whatever the motivation, he produces a picture of a 25-year marriage that is both amusing and frightening.

Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theater whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-garde dramas, philosophical crime novels, and macabre satire.

“Play Strindberg” will remain on stage until May 9 at Iranshahr Theater, located in Artists Park on North Mousavi Street, Taleqani Street.

SS/SAB