Lunatic and Lover
by Michael Meyer

THE STORY: One of the theatre's most creative geniuses, August Strindberg was a man driven by demons: his tortured self-doubt about the value of his work; and his compulsively destructive relationships with the women who obsessed him.

Alienated from his stern father and stepmother, Strindberg drifted into the theatre and a stormy liaison with the beautiful actress Siri von Essen, the wife of his benefactor, Baron Wrangle.

When their subsequent marriage was destroyed by Siri's involvement with another woman, Strindberg embarked on two more ill-fated relationships, first with the brilliant journalist Frida Uhl and then with a young actress, Harriet Bosse —always searching for, but never finding, a true and enriching partnership.

The frustrations of his personal life were reflected in his art, with his creative brilliance largely unrecognized until, ironically, he was too old and sick to savor the plaudits bestowed on him by the following generations.