The Lonely
Incomplete play “…taking place over 48 hours in the Almans’ living room.”
“And he was so vicious… so cruel. Men are like animals. Brutish beasts.”
About the text
This fragment can be found in [Workbook No. 5]. The plot centres around the schoolteacher Erik Alman, his wife Alice, their son Bror and his girlfriend Lisa. The housekeeper Alma (implied to be in love with the lady of the house) also plays an important role. The Almans have been worried about their son’s performance in school, especially in Latin (similar to another of Bergman’s youth from the same period).
Lisa: What was it that Mrs. Alman wished to tell me? Can’t it wait until tonight? I’m in a bit of a rush.
Mother: I understand. But it won’t take long.
Lisa: Well then, go ahead.
Mother: You see, I’ve been talking with Erik… and we think… We think that perhaps Lisa is not appropriate company for Bror. And that Lisa has perhaps been a distraction from his studies. Erik has told me that Bror has become very anxious of late, due to all this running about with Lisa. So I don’t believe… I… I think that we perhaps should take a break from Lisa’s frequent visits to our home. Erik and I both find the present state of affairs to be quite unacceptable. Has Lisa understood?
Bror: What in the blazes… (He is so furious that he can barely speak.) Why… Of all the idiotic…
Sources
- Maaret Koskinen, I begynnelsen var ordet: Ingmar Bergman och hans tidiga författarskap, Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand, 2002, pp. 64.
F:098
[98] p. ; 21 x 17 cm + Supplements
Black notebook. Two scripts: "The Opera", 49 p, "The Lonely", 49 p. Dated: Duvnäs August 9th 1942. Loose pages. Supplement 1: Typewritten draft of "The Lonely", carbon copies, paginated p.15 - 39, 29 x 23 cm.