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Lagerkvist, Pär

The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre | 1996 | 700+ words | Copyright

Lagerkvist, Pär (1891–1974), Swedish poet, novelist, and dramatist, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1951. Although best known outside Sweden for his novels and short stories, he was probably the most remarkable playwright of the modern Swedish theatre as well as an influential theorist and critic. He repudiated naturalism, and followed the theories of Strindberg, being an adherent of Expressionism. The first of his plays to be performed, Himlens hemlighet (The Secret of Heaven), was staged in 1921. This play and those that followed up to 1928 were clouded with deep despair, but in later plays Lagerkvist shows a compassionate vision expressed in an increasingly realistic style, though with symbolic overtones. His most successful play was De vises sten (The Philosopher's Stone, 1948), first seen at the Royal Dramatic Theatre under Alf Sjöberg. Set in the Italian Renaissance, it deals with problems of faith, knowledge, and social responsibility. Barabbas (1953) is based on one of his own novels.

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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Lagerkvist, Pär." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Lagerkvist, Pär." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-LagerkvistPr.html

PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Lagerkvist, Pär." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-LagerkvistPr.html

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