are preparing the first performance of his short play The Stronger. With Siri is her friend Marie Caroline David, an alcoholic actress whom Strindberg accuses of having a lesbian attachment to his wife. As the rehearsal progresses, the lines of the play being read are cleverly shaded to reflect the bitterness of Strindberg's personal situation: his frustration as an artist; his dismay at the loss of his wife's love; his enmity toward his rival. Ranging from fiery outbursts to moments of high humor, the play builds an uncanny and overpowering portrait of the tortured genius, while achieving a poignancy and sense of truth which are theatre at its finest and most vivid.

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