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Overview
Synopsis
In The Ghost Sonata, Strindberg portrays a desperate, fallen world based on illusions and deceptions. In a 1900 apartment block, the inhabitants are, bound together by common guilt and condemned to suffer for their sins. In this world, filled with death and decay, people are not what they seem to be. Under the veneer of respectability lies corruption and Hummel, an old man in a wheelchair, understands how they are all linked by a chain of guilt and betrayals. In fact, he is at the center of all their miseries. He draws the Student (Arkenholz)--an innocent and idealistic young man who possesses supernatural abilities--into this hell, in order to exact revenge on his neighbor, the Colonel. However, it is ultimately the Old Man who is defeated by his own scheming and forced to take his own life. Left with the fragments of distorted lives collapsing around him, Arkenholz realizes that the mortal world is flawed and evil, and that death offers liberation. Written in 1907 and first performed in 1908, The Ghost Sonata led the way in the development of twentieth-century modernist drama.
Show Information
- Book
- August Strindberg
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
- Number of Acts
- 3
- First Produced
- 1908
- Genres
- Drama
- Settings
- Period, Unit/Single Set
- Time & Place
- A modern apartment building, 1900
- Cast Size
- large
- Licensor
- None/royalty-free
- Ideal For
- College/University, Large Cast, Regional Theatre, Includes Elderly, Young Adult, Adult, Late Teen, Mature Adult Characters
Context
Plot
Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
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|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Silent |
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|
Featured |
Female |
Silent |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Silent |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
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|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
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|
Featured |
Female |
Silent |
|
|
Featured |
Either Gender |
Silent |
Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
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Videos
Quizzes
Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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Quote Analysis
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Guide Written By:
Alexandra Appleton
Writer, editor and theatre researcher