Bergman’s Trilogy: Tradition and Innovation

Ingmar Bergman at work with Per Mattsson on A Doll's House. Photo: Bengt Wanselius. 74 Bergman's Trilogy Tradition and Innovation Roger W Oliver "Nothing changes more constantly than the past; for the past that influence our lives does not consist of what actually happened, but of what men believe happened." Gerald White Johnson "The past is the present, isn't it? It's the future, too. We all try to lie out of that but life won't let us." Eugene O'Neill Long DaysJourney into Night THE INESCAPABLE INFLUENCE of the past on the present is probably the keynote to naturalism as a literary/dramatic theory. Since heredity and history are two of the determining factors of naturalism (along with environment ), the actions of the characters in naturalistic plays are inevitably shaped by the past. For a director staging the works of such playwrights as Ibsen, Strindberg, and O'Neill today, the challenge is not only to convince a modern audience of the acceptability of such a deterministic philosophy, but to avoid the tyranny of the past imposed by more than a century of naturalistic productions. While Ingmar Bergman's productions of Missjulie,Long Day'sJourney into Night, and A Doll's House may not have been initially conceived as a naturalistic trilogy, they functioned as such when viewed in this order, the order in which Bergman directed them and the Brooklyn Academy of Music presented them as part of the second New York International Festival of the Arts. Each production clearly delineated the themes and conflicts of the individual play in and for itself; taken together, however, the three 75 stagings illustrated not only the kinship between the three plays both thematically and stylistically, but Bergman's evolving approach to reconciling traditional and contemporary theatrical practices. Although Ingmar Bergman has been associated with the Royal Dramatic Theatre of Sweden (Dramaten) since 1960, these three productions represent some of his work with the company since his return from his selfimposed exile in Germany. The oldest of the three productions, MissJulie, was first presented in Stockholm in 1985 and is based on a production he first staged in Munich. In certain ways it is the most "traditional" of the three stagings, retaining the kind of meticulously detailed mise-enscone usually associated with plays of this type. Yet even within the context of a "realistic" presentation of the play, Bergman is able to make discoveries about the work that illuminate and enliven it for a contemporary audience. The close connection between tradition and innovation in Bergman's work can perhaps best be illustrated by the physical appearance of Miss Julie herself. When German playwright Peter Weiss was consulting the original manuscript of the play in preparing his text for Bergman's Munich production, he discovered a reference to a scar Miss Julie bears on her face from a whipping by her fiance. Weiss and Bergman decided to restore the scar, which Strindberg himself had deleted, since it not only visually establishes Julie's vulnerability, but provides further motivation for the fear and loathing of men she exhibits during the course of the play. According to Gunilla Palmstierna-Weiss, who designed all three of the Bergman productions seen at BAM, Bergman connects this scar with the one Julie receives as a result of her loss of virginity during the midsummer eve interlude and her anticipated use of the razor provided by Jean at the play's end. Julie's victimization at the hands of the men in her life thus encompasses not only the neglect of her weak father but the physical abuse of her fiancd, and the seduction and then betrayal of Jean. Perhaps the most effective demonstration of Bergman's ability to use realistic detail to create the world of the play onstage occurs in the midsummer interlude referred to above. While Jean and Julie are offstage in Jean's bedroom, Strindberg calls for the following scenario: Led by the fiddler, the peasants enter in festive attire with flowers in their hats. They put a barrel of beer and a keg of spirits, garlanded with leaves, on the table, fetch glasses and begin to carouse. The scene becomes...