Theatre, 1945

Rabies

Rabies - Six Scenes from Human Life by Olle Hedberg, was one of Bergman's final stagings at Helsingborg City Theatre.
'We are going to pull the floor from under your feet and take you down to horror chambers and dung heaps to peer at the eyeless monsters that hide there.'
Ingmar Bergman, Images

About the production

Olle Hedberg published the novel 'Loafing', which included six chapters in dialogue form based around the question: Are the woes of life ameliorated by the wailing of the likes of you? Bergman saw the dramatic potential of Hedberg's work, adapted it for the stage and renamed it Rabies. He also adapted the play for the radio in 1946.

In a programme note Bergman called the play, 'an unpleasant theatre piece' and warned the audience to hold on tight. He justified his focussing on morbid and dark issues by calling them part of the pessimistic climate of the times.

Bergman turned the play into a TV film in 1958.

 

 

Sources

  • The Ingmar Bergman Archives.
  • Birgitta Steene, Ingmar Bergman: A Reference Guide, (Amsterdam University Press, 2005).

Collaborators

  • Sture Ericson, Bo Stensson Svenningsson
  • Carin Cederström, Jenny
  • Åke Fridell, Sixten Garberg
  • Annika Tretow, Eivor
  • Birger Malmsten, Erik
  • Dagny Lind, Aunt
  • Gunnar Nielsen, Knut Mosterson
  • Erland Josephson, Sven
  • Bertil Sjödin
  • Otto Landahl
  • Curt Edgard, Rolf
  • Monica Schildt, Mrs Svensson (Hälsingborgs Stadsteater)
  • Maud Hyttenberg, Mrs Svensson (Radioteatern)
  • Olle Hedberg, Author
  • Ingmar Bergman, Radio adaptation
  • Gunnar Lindblad, Designer