Persona
by Ingmar Bergman
In the translation by Renate Bleibtreu
In 1965, the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman was hospitalised with pneumonia. In his hospital room, he came up with the screenplay for his experimental feature film Persona. Later, he said that parts of the film corresponded to a "poem about his personal situation". He felt "burnt out, as if dead", and thought he could never create anything ever again. In the screenplay, the nurse Alma is assigned to care for the acclaimed actress Elisabet Vogler. She has stopped speaking after a performance of Elektra. In a house by the sea, the two very different women spend a carefree summer. Alma speaks. Elisabet listens. When Alma finds a letter in which Elisabet makes fun of her, the situation spirals out of control. Persona is more than just a tale about depression or exhaustion. Rather, at its core, the material is based on a profound scepticism about the construction of human identity. Both women similarly pose these questions and merge into one other. In Anna Bergmann’s production, this concept is reflected in an extraordinary way: the two actresses who play these female characters will change roles in the course of the Malmö–Berlin co-production, swapping roles when they perform in the other country and theatre.
Co-production with the Malmö Stadsteater
Invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen 2019
In 1965, the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman was hospitalised with pneumonia. In his hospital room, he came up with the screenplay for his experimental feature film Persona. Later, he said that parts of the film corresponded to a "poem about his personal situation". He felt "burnt out, as if dead", and thought he could never create anything ever again. In the screenplay, the nurse Alma is assigned to care for the acclaimed actress Elisabet Vogler. She has stopped speaking after a performance of Elektra. In a house by the sea, the two very different women spend a carefree summer. Alma speaks. Elisabet listens. When Alma finds a letter in which Elisabet makes fun of her, the situation spirals out of control. Persona is more than just a tale about depression or exhaustion. Rather, at its core, the material is based on a profound scepticism about the construction of human identity. Both women similarly pose these questions and merge into one other. In Anna Bergmann’s production, this concept is reflected in an extraordinary way: the two actresses who play these female characters will change roles in the course of the Malmö–Berlin co-production, swapping roles when they perform in the other country and theatre.
Co-production with the Malmö Stadsteater
Invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen 2019
Director Anna Bergmann
Set Jo Schramm
Costumes Lane Schäfer
Music Hannes Gwisdek
Stage lighting Sven Erik Andersson
Video Sebastian Pircher
Dramaturgy Sonja Anders, Felicia Ohly
Premiere Malmö Stadsteater
15 September 2018
Berlin premiere
30 November 2018, Kammerspiele
Co-production with the Malmö Stadsteater
15 September 2018
Berlin premiere
30 November 2018, Kammerspiele
Co-production with the Malmö Stadsteater
Karin LithmanMrs. Elisabet Vogler
Corinna HarfouchSister Alma
Franziska MachensDoctor
Andreas GrötzingerMr. Vogler
Mrs. Elisabet Vogler
Sister Alma
Doctor
Mr. Vogler
Karin Lithman and Corinna Harfouch slip into the characters memorably portrayed by Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson in the film: an actress who mysteriously stops speaking in the middle of a performance and the nurse who takes care of her at a cottage on a secluded island. Ms. Harfouch, who does virtually all the talking, renders Nurse Alma's changing, often conflicted emotions compelling and believable. Ms. Lithman is no less impressive in her silent role, as she reacts to her caregiver with, progressively, indifferency, hostility and affection.
A mirrored band shell (sets: Joe Schramm) is a clever and versatile setting: The warped reflections echo the surreal, off-kilter aspects of the film. Ms. Bergmann's Persona uses a dazzling set, an onstage deluge, ample video and good old-fashioned monologues to breathe fresh life into this intense, enigmatic study of psychological disintegration and transference.
Karin Lithman and Corinna Harfouch slip into the characters memorably portrayed by Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson in the film: an actress who mysteriously stops speaking in the middle of a performance and the nurse who takes care of her at a cottage on a secluded island. Ms. Harfouch, who does virtually all the talking, renders Nurse Alma's changing, often conflicted emotions compelling and believable. Ms. Lithman is no less impressive in her silent role, as she reacts to her caregiver with, progressively, indifferency, hostility and affection.
A mirrored band shell (sets: Joe Schramm) is a clever and versatile setting: The warped reflections echo the surreal, off-kilter aspects of the film.