Young artist, Adolph is in love with his new wife, the successful novelist Tekla, and why would he not be? Charming, vivacious and experienced, she has been his passion, his inspiration and his education. Read more …
As he anxiously awaits her return to their seaside retreat, Adolph finds solace in the words of a stranger. But comfort soon turns to destruction as old wounds are opened, insecurities laid bare and former debts settled in a tight spiral of psychological manipulation, love, betrayal and revenge.
The great master of modern drama, August Strindberg, considered this portrait of an intense sexual triangle to be his one true masterpiece.
Tony Award winner Stewart Laing returns to Scotland to direct an adaptation that bristles with sexual tension and paranoia. Famed for his striking visual style, Stewart’s acclaimed work with his own company Untitled Projects, Scottish Opera, the Royal Court and theatres throughout Scotland, places him firmly as one of this country's foremost theatre makers.
Stunningly relevant.
Stewart Laing directs August Strindberg’s drama about a man wheedling his way into his ex-wife’s marriage.
Love, hate and paranoia come seeping out of the characters, in a way that may be ridiculous but is also more real than we may care to admit.
Stewart Laing’s production may retain Strindberg’s original nineteenth century roots, but the uncensored extremes of Gustav’s misogyny are frighteningly of the moment.
An intelligently adapted piece which requires thought, laughs and openness.
Brutal and unnerving.
In all, it’s a strong, cerebral, yet entertaining adaptation with a hit-and-miss record when it comes to taking risks and deviating from the source material.
It’s a bold and engaging production. But despite this, the intrinsic and unchallenged sexism of Creditors robs it of much of its relevance.
This Creditors is a theatre event that burns itself on the mind; not easy, not always pleasant, but truly brilliant.
Rarely has a play about misogyny, hatred and revenge been so entertaining.
The effect is appropriately intimate and claustrophobic, and, ultimately, a perfect partner to Strindberg’s catastrophic vision.
Something of a disappointment.
It's a bracing production that argues against the script's message (and its trite naturalism, lazy rhetoric and drab dialogues), with typically intelligent and bravura direction by Laing: Onashile's brilliance emphasises the raw viciousness of a philosophy that rejects compassion and imagines a humanity responsible only to its own will.
A psychological sparring match, Creditors bristles with tension as it teeters between dark humour and emotional torment as the battle in each relationship unfolds. A gripping production which leaves the audience significantly in its debt.
Theatre preview--Creditors
David Greig and Stewart Laing--Creditors
Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh from Friday April 27, 2018, until Saturday May 12, 2018. More info: www.lyceum.org.uk
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