The Blinding Light

Howard Brenton’s new play tells the astonishing story of August Strindberg’s ‘Inferno’ period.

Abandoning theatre, living a life of squalid splendour, Strindberg practises alchemy. In his hotel room, he attempts to make gold by finding the philosopher’s stone, the secret of creation. As his grasp of reality weakens his first two wives visit him to bring him to his senses. But their interventions spin out of control. And – are they really his wives at all?

For four years in fin-de-siècle Paris, Europe’s most famous playwright vanished. Most people thought he had gone insane. When he reappeared, his new plays changed theatre forever.

‘A cracking new play… Brenton is alive to both the comic and the painful side of this so-called “inferno period” and has an interpretation of it that the play renders very persuasive’ Independent

‘A fascinating glimpse into the nature of artistic creation… the play boasts Brenton’s characteristic intelligence and wit in dealing with substantial themes’ The Stage

THE BLINDING LIGHT was commissioned and first produced by Jermyn Street Theatre, London on 6 September 2017