Overview
CREDITORS is the suspenseful tale of two men who meet at a seaside resort in Sweden—a sculptor and a mysterious stranger—only to discover that they have something unexpected in common; a woman. In Wright’s adaptation of Strindberg’s forgotten masterwork, all three characters engage in a deadly game of wits, opening old wounds and inflicting fresh ones. Written in 1888, the play still bears its ferocious sting, and is reminiscent of the most contemporary erotic thrillers with its blend of toxic desire and wicked intent.
Casting & Production
Casting
GUSTAV
Male, 35-50.
A fiercely intelligent academic; once handsome, Gustav is starting to fray on the edges. His affable, charming exterior masks a vengeful, Machiavellian heart. In the play, he uses his entire arsenal—humor, intimidation, seduction and false humility—to thwart his ex-wife’s second chance at happiness.
ADOLF
Male, 25-40.
Adolf is a sculptor, easily manipulated because of his youth and naiveté. When pushed, he becomes boyish and melodramatic, sometimes putting his foot in his mouth to unintentionally comic effect. A hypochondriac by nature, he has the consumptive beauty of a poet; older women find him irresistibly attractive.
TEKLA
Female, 30-50.
Though still quite beautiful, Tekla worries that age is starting to render her less desirable. She’s a fiercely intelligent woman with a steel core, but in order to get what she wants, she uses the weaponry of her sex (and the repressive era in which she lives): flirtation, carnality, an occasionally naughty sense of humor, sugar-coated threats, and kisses laced in poison.
Setting
Place
A public space in a private spa on the Swedish coast, near the sea shore
Time
Midsummer, 1888.
Reviews
“Like glimpsing an emotional car wreck; you simply can’t turn away… the intermissionless drama feel slike a vivisection of Strindberg’s troubled heart and mind.”
—The San Diego Tribune
“Adapter/director Doug Wright dispels all library mustiness from August Strindberg’s CREDITORS… like Albee at his most devilish… polished by Wright to brilliant steel.”
—Variety
