The Ghost Sonata

Written in 1907, The Ghost Sonata (Spöksonaten) is August Strindberg’s play about a young, naïve student, who idealizes the lives of the inhabitants of a stylish apartment building in Stockholm. He makes the acquaintance of the mysterious Jakob Hummel, who helps him to find his way into the apartment, only to find that it is a nest of betrayal, sickness, and emotional vampirism. The world, the student learns, is hell and human beings must suffer to achieve salvation.