Gertrud (play)
Encyclopedia
Gertrud is a Swedish
1906 play
(drama
), in three parts, by author and playwright Hjalmar Söderberg
.
(in Sweden often considered as one of the very best Swedish plays ever written) with the middle-age Gertrud in the centre and about her relationships with three different men; her husband Gustav Kanning (a politician), her older, former lover Gabriel Lidman (a business man) and her new found love Erland Jansson (a young concert pianist): men who have desired — and desire her — in three different ways.
The first act is set in Gustaf Kanning's study at home where Gertrud in the dark, in the first scene, awaits her husband's return from work as she has something important to tell: she's going to leave him. How will Kanning react to this? How will her former love interest — who suddenly returns from a long trip overseas — react? Is her new found love worth the sacrifice she is about to make?
The play is a penetrating drama on life, love and passion. About the feeling of being trapped and confined in a marriage, the need of love and the search of THE LOVE; but does it exist? How does it show itself and what is real love anyway? Is it a fundamental right to love and be loved? It's also a play about how we all value love and closeness in a relationship — and the need and importance of it in our lives — so completely different. Women and men, and from man to man and woman to woman. Why is it all so difficult?
The original production in Sweden premiered on February 13 1907 at the old Royal Dramatic Theatre
featuring Gerda Lundequist
in the title role.
(The White Shape, Act II)
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
1906 play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
(drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
), in three parts, by author and playwright Hjalmar Söderberg
Hjalmar Söderberg
Hjalmar Emil Fredrik Söderberg was a Swedish novelist, playwright, poet and journalist. His works often deal with melancholy and lovelorn characters, and offer a rich portrayal of contemporary Stockholm through the eyes of the flaneur...
.
Story description
The play is a modern relationship dramaDrama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
(in Sweden often considered as one of the very best Swedish plays ever written) with the middle-age Gertrud in the centre and about her relationships with three different men; her husband Gustav Kanning (a politician), her older, former lover Gabriel Lidman (a business man) and her new found love Erland Jansson (a young concert pianist): men who have desired — and desire her — in three different ways.
The first act is set in Gustaf Kanning's study at home where Gertrud in the dark, in the first scene, awaits her husband's return from work as she has something important to tell: she's going to leave him. How will Kanning react to this? How will her former love interest — who suddenly returns from a long trip overseas — react? Is her new found love worth the sacrifice she is about to make?
The play is a penetrating drama on life, love and passion. About the feeling of being trapped and confined in a marriage, the need of love and the search of THE LOVE; but does it exist? How does it show itself and what is real love anyway? Is it a fundamental right to love and be loved? It's also a play about how we all value love and closeness in a relationship — and the need and importance of it in our lives — so completely different. Women and men, and from man to man and woman to woman. Why is it all so difficult?
The original production in Sweden premiered on February 13 1907 at the old Royal Dramatic Theatre
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....
featuring Gerda Lundequist
Gerda Lundequist
Gerda Carola Cecilia Lundequist was a Swedish stage actress, an Ibsen and Strindberg-thespian that in her time was known throughout Scandinavia as "The Swedish Sarah Bernhardt".-Career:...
in the title role.
Characters
- Gertrud Kanning
- Gustav Kanning
- Gabriel Lidman
- Erland Jansson
- Kanning's mother
- The White Shape
From play
- Look at me a little.
- Am I beautiful?
- No.
- But I have loved.
- Look at me a little.
- Am I young?
- No.
- But I have loved.
- Look at me a little.
- Am I alive?
- No.
- But I have loved.
(The White Shape, Act II)
- "I believe in the lust of the flesh and the incurable desolation of the soul." (Gertrud reminding Lidman of the words he once uttered to her).
- "And it didn't cost you a thing to tell me this? It was easy and simple? Like cancelling a performance..." (Kanning to Gertrud)
- "You are not a real woman. A woman should lie and smile and caress. Yes, caress - and you know how. But you do it for your own pleasure. And you know it! Well, that is not for a woman to know." (Jansson to Gertrud)
- KANNING: It doesn't sound as if you loved her that particularly much, your... wife.
- LIDMAN: Love? - Nonsense.
Notable productions
- The original 1907 staging with Gerda LundequistGerda LundequistGerda Carola Cecilia Lundequist was a Swedish stage actress, an Ibsen and Strindberg-thespian that in her time was known throughout Scandinavia as "The Swedish Sarah Bernhardt".-Career:...
as Gertrud, the Royal Dramatic TheatreRoyal Dramatic TheatreThe Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....
. - The 1953 Dramaten-staging with Eva DahlbeckEva DahlbeckEva Dahlbeck was a Swedish actress and author.Eva Dahlbeck was born in Saltsjö-Duvnäs near Stockholm. She attended the prestigious acting school of the Royal Dramatic Theatre from 1941 to 1944, and acted on the Theatre's stage from 1944 to 1964...
as Gertrud. - The 1999 TV-theatre adaption (SVT) with Marie RichardsonMarie RichardsonMarie Richardson is a Swedish stage and film actress. She studied at the Teaterhögskolan i Stockholm from 1982 to 1985...
as Gertrud.
Film adaption
- 1964 - GertrudGertrud (film)Gertrud is a 1964 Danish drama film directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, based on the 1906 play of the same name by Hjalmar Söderberg. The title role of Gertrud Kanning is played by Nina Pens Rode, with Bendt Rothe as her husband, Gustav Kanning, and Baard Owe as her lover, Erland Jansson.Gertrud was...
(directed by Carl Theodor DreyerCarl Theodor DreyerCarl Theodor Dreyer, Jr. was a Danish film director. He is regarded by many critics and filmmakers as one of the greatest directors in cinema.-Life:Dreyer was born illegitimate in Copenhagen, Denmark...
)