Leka med elden

Leka med elden ("Play with fire") is a one act play by August Strindberg (1849-1912)[1].

The original text

This is one of three plays written when Strindberg's first marriage was in the process of breaking up. All three works are fuelled by sexual tension and typify Strindberg's enduring theme: the constant and consuming battle for power between the sexes. The dark tragedy of The Father (1887) makes it one of haunting psychological dramas of the modern theatre, while the complex naturalist drama Miss Julie (1888) has become one of the core masterpieces of 20th century theatre, often performed and adapted. By contrast the rare Strindberg comedy Playing With Fire (1892), written when the couple were battling in court over the custody of their children, is less widely known, but it too is a gem of a one-act play of its kind.

Set in a cottage on an island in the Swedish archipelago in high summer, it tells of Knut, a painter, and his wife Kerstin, who are entertaining an old friend, Axel. The crisis comes when Axel and Kerstin declare their long-suppressed love and confront Knut with the news.

The play was written in 1892 and first produced in Berlin at the Lessingtheater in December, 1893 and in Stockholm at the National Restaurant, on May 3, 1907. The text was published 1893 (Germany), 1897 (Sweden).

Translations

Translated as Playing with Fire by E. Classen and published in the Strindberg collection Lucky Peter’s Travels and Other Plays in 1930. Among the other English translations done are versions by Walter Johnson (published in The Washington Strindberg, vol. 12, 1983) and Evert Sprinchorn, (in Selected Plays, 1986).

The English version was apparently only performed in London in 1962.

Translated into Afrikaans as Wie Met Vuur Speel ("he who plays with fire") for the radio by S.J. Pretorius. This radio version was subsequently adapted for the stage by Herman Pretorius.

Adaptations

There have been a surprising number of adaptations of this work, among the many other literary, dramatic and filmic works all using the title Playing with Fire. Few of these, beyond the original play, have to date actually been done in South Africa.

See the entry on Playing with Fire in this encyclopaedia, as well as the one in Wikipedia [2] for a list of such works.

Performance history in South Africa

1967/8? A production of the English text was done by the Drama Department of the University of the Orange Free State, directed by Marlene Kotzen with Schalk Jacobsz as "Knut", Temple Hauptfleisch as "Axel", Hudson Earp and two female students.

1983: A production of the English text was done by the Baxter Theatre in association with Minotaurus, directed by Dieter Reible, starring Chris van Niekerk, Mitzi Booysen, Michael Drin, Megan Kruskal, Marthinus Basson. The first performance in the Baxter Studio was on 13 April 1983.

1986: Wie Met Vuur Speel was presented by Universiteitsteater Stellenbosch in the H.B. Thom Theatre in September 1986, directed by Juanita Swanepoel with drama stuudents. Decor by Emile Aucamp, costumes by Elaine Aucamp.

2018: Performed by the Claremont Dramatic Society in the Masque Theatre, Muizenberg from 27 July to 4 August, directed Bernie Jacobs It formed part of a double bill with The Open Door (Alfred Sutro).