Max Reinhardt’s contribution to the development of modern stage direction in Sweden
Max Reinhardt’s contribution to the development of modern stage direction in Sweden

Summary/Abstract: The concept of modern stage direction emerged gradually in European theatre in the first decades of the twentieth century, thanks to visionary thinkers and practitioners such as Adolph Appia, Edward Gordon Craig, Max Reinhardt, Konstantin Stanislavski or August Strindberg. The idea of the director in the modern sense, as a creative coordinator of all aspects of the performance, also responsible for a higher truthfulness in acting, overturned the previous conceptions that the play was above everything else on the stage. Max Reinhardt’s influence on Swedish stage direction was essential. He became popular in Sweden after a series of guest performances and after putting on stage Strindberg’s A Dream Play at Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm in 1921. Not least, a few young Swedish directors and stage designers studied for him in Germany and put into practice all the techniques they have learned from him after returning to Sweden. My paper is structured in two parts: the first one is an overview of the features of the Reinhardtian total theatre, while the second part highlights Max Reinhardt’s concrete contribution within the Swedish theatre.

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