Egil Törnqvist – författare

Bergman is a most versatile director who has devoted himself to several muses in a variety of media. Apart from being a writer of plays and screenplays, he has over the past fifty years directed about a hundred stage performances, fifty films, and many works for radio and television. During this time, all the production equipment used have undergone significant changes (allowing, just for instance, a more varied and subtle use of light and sound). But by his own admission, Bergman's texts have often lacked a clear orientation toward a specific medium.This book focuses on Bergman's way of tackling the problems inherent in each art form he has dealt with, giving a penetrating picture of his craftsmanship and the intimate relationship between his work on stage and in film, as well as the possibilities and limitations of the various forms. With the varied media at his disposal, Bergman is internationally the most versatile author-cum-director presently at work, well aware of what each medium can and cannot do and, most importantly, eager to test its borders. The book addresses itself not only to Bergman fans but also to all those interested in the aesthetic problems related to different presentational forms.

Eugene O'Neill wrote his plays for a theatre in which the playwright would take a central position. He presented himself as a controlling personality both in the texts--in the form of ample stage directions--and in performances based on these texts. His plays address several audiences--reader, spectator, and production team--and scripts were often different from the published versions. This study examines O'Neill's multiple roles as a writer for many audiences.After a description of O'Neill's working conditions and the multiple audiences of the plays, this study examines the various formal aspects of the plays: titles, settings in time and place, names and addresses, language, and connections and allusions to other works. An examination of the plays follows, with particular emphasis on Bound East for Cardiff, Long Day's Journey Into Night, and A Touch of the Poet.

Though Ingmar Bergman became famous as a filmmaker, his roots-and, to some extent, his heart-were in the theater. He directed more than one hundred plays in his career, and The Serious Game takes a close look at fourteen productions he staged at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. Looking closely at the relationship between the verbal and the visual, this book gives even longtime Bergman fans a new understanding of his sensitivity to nuance, his versatility, and his dedication to craftsmanship.

An essential resource for those interested in one of the most influential modern playwrights and for the dedicated theatre lover.

This bilingual English-Swedish study of August Strindberg’s renowned play Miss Julie (1888) provides a penetrating analysis of the author’s text and of Ingmar Bergman’s praised 1985 production. The book is a paradigmatic illustration of similarities and differences between text and performance. The Bergman part is highlighted by a number of black-and-white illustrations from the stage performance. The complete text is also available on the website www.missjulie.eu, where a great many stills and some moving images can be found.