This chapter consists of two parts: The first is an overview of Bergman's lifelong career in the theatre. The second is a listing of his entire record on stage, including his opera work and productions of his own plays, whether directed by him or by others. For specific examples of Bergman's stagecraft, the overview may be juxtaposted to the Commentaries to the individual entries in part (2).

For a fuller account of reviewer response to Bergman's theatre work, see Henrik Sjögren's two books Ingmar Bergman på teatern (1968, ➣ 548) and Lek och raseri. Ingmar Bergmans teater 1938-2002 (2002, ➣ 667). Among other studies of Bergman's work in the theatre are:

Marker, Frederick and Lise-Lone. Ingmar Bergman in the Theater, 1982, 1992. (➣ 594).

Koskinen, Maaret. Ingmar Bergman. Allting föreställer, ingenting är, 2001. (➣ 672).

Reilly, Willem Thomas. ‘Ingmar Bergman's Theatre Direction, 1952-1974’. Diss. (➣ 590).

Sjögren, Henrik. Regi. Dagbok från Dramaten, 1973. (➣ 554).

Steene, Birgitta. ‘I have never pursued a particular program policy. Ingmar Bergman in the Theatre’. Contemporary Theatre Review, Vol. 14(2), 2004: 41-56. (➣ 683).

Törnqvist, Egil. Between Stage and Screen, 1995. (➣ 649)

—. Bergman's Muses, Aesthetic Versatility in Film, Theatre, Television and Radio, 2003. (➣ 682)

For a complete listing of Bergman's own plays, published or unpublished, see Chapter II: Ingmar Bergman, the Writer. For a year-by-year bibliography of articles and books (including the above items) dealing with Ingmar Bergman's contribution to the theatre, see Chapter VII: Theatre/Media Bibliography – except for items addressing a single specific production, which are cross-listed under the appropriate production entry in this chapter, Reception and Review sections, Part II.

PART I: AN OVERVIEW

Debut as Stage Director: Mäster Olofsgården (1938-1940)

While still in high school, Ingmar Bergman sometimes discussed Strindberg's plays with Sven Hansson, a clerk in Sandberg's legendary bookstore in the centre of Stockholm. Hansson, who was some ten years older than Bergman, was affiliated with Mäster Olofsgården, a settlement house in the old and, at that time, poor section of town. Having studied amateur theatre among religious groups in London's East End Hansson had tried, in the early 1930s, to transplant the idea to Mäster Olofsgården. In 1938, after some five years of such activity, he suggested to the board that Ingmar Bergman be asked to join as a director in Mäster Olofsgården's amateur theatre section.