Battle Of The Sexes Rages In Strindberg’s The Father — londonist.com

Alex Ferns (Captain) in Laurie Slade’s adaptation of The Father at Trafalgar Studios 2. Photo: Simon Annand. With their unflinching depictions of destructive power struggles between men and women, August Strindberg’s plays are unlikely to be chosen by couples on a date. But even by Strindberg’s standards his 1887 drama The Father — inspired by the acrimonious break-up of his first marriage — is an extreme account of the archetypal male-female dichotomy, with no room for compromise. It seems that for Strindberg it was a case of ‘can’t live with women, can’t live without them’ as he went on to remarry twice. And though this play is to some extent weighted in favour of the male protagonist, it cannot be simply dismissed as a melodramatic, misogynistic rant because of its penetrating insights into gender roles.

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