From the Life of the Rain Worms (Aus dem Leben der Regenwürmer)
Bergman's production of P O Enquist's play on the artist's circumstances and relationship to his/her surroundings was met with a lukewarm reception.
About the production
Reviewers of the Munich production of From the Life of the Rain Worms harshly criticized Enquist's play about a ficticious meeting between two Proletarian artist, the 19th-century Danish actress Johanne Heiberg and fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen. Writing it off as a set of 'terrible trivialities', 'a clever conversation piece without munch dramatic tension', and 'a series of confession monologues', the critical consensus was that had it not been for Bergman turning a banal piece into brilliant theatre, the play would not have been worth seeing. The opening night audience seemed pleased enough, though, giving standing ovations to Bergman and the ensemble during a dozen curtain calls.
Sources
- The Ingmar Bergman Archives.
- Birgitta Steene, Ingmar Bergman: A Reference Guide, (Amsterdam University Press, 2005).
Collaborators
- Christine Buchegger, Johanne Luise Heiberg
- Horst Sachtleben, Johan Ludvig Heiberg
- Heinz Bennent, Hans Christian Andersen
- Monika John, Old woman
- Heike Wiehle, Dramaturgy
- Per Olov Enquist, Author
- Hansgeorg Eder, Stage manager
- Ingmar Bergman, Director
- Annette Gassman, Assistant director
- Marik Vos, Designer
- Stefan Böhm, Assistant designer
- Svea Köller-Zweig, Prompter
- Angelika Gundlach, Translation