About the work
During his brief tenure on Theater Basel's directorate in 1968/69, Dürrenmatt wrote "Play Strindberg" as a sharply condensed, ironic version of August Strindberg's marriage drama "The Dance of Death" (1900); it premiered in Basel on 8 February 1969. The title alludes to Jacques Loussier's jazz series "Play Bach."
Plot
Ahead of their silver wedding anniversary, Captain Edgar, his wife Alice, and their mutual friend Kurt wage a merciless marital war of humiliation, intrigue, and shifting alliances on a remote fortress island, which Dürrenmatt structures like a boxing match into twelve terse rounds.
Cultural significance
"Play Strindberg" is among Dürrenmatt's most successful stage texts and remains in regular repertoire today, including at Theater Basel and the Deutsches Theater Berlin.