Pariah

Summary

1958 BBC production of Pariah by August Strindberg, presented as the first item in a double bill with Strindberg’s The Stronger.

Theatre play

Pariah [Paria] by August Strindberg (1849-1912) [more information]

Play synopsis

'The play involves a battle of brains between two men, "Mr. X and Mr. Y’' in a Darwinian struggle for survival. The men are in a room in a farmhouse during a storm. A box of gold sits on the table, for which Mr. X is responsible. Both have committed crimes in their personal history. Mr. X, in his youth, murdered a man, but he was not caught, and he explains why it is right that he avoided punishment. As for Mr. Y, he forged a financial document, which secured a loan. For this he was caught and sent to prison, and he explains why it was unfair that he was punished. As both stories are shared during the play, it sets the men against one another. Which one is really the most guilty, and have either of them atoned for his sin? Mr. Y finally rationalizes that Mr. X. should pay Mr. Y a penalty or a bribe as a way of bringing "a little better balance into these unequal human conditions." Or it can be seen as Mr. X paying a bribe to keep Mr. Y quiet about Mr. X’s crime. The atmosphere becomes tense and threatening, and the contest comes to a head when Y becomes armed with a knife, and X is armed with a stronger will, and can use his greater mental prowess to overpower Y.' Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pariah_%28play%29.

Production history

First staged in 1889.

Date of transmission

Friday 22 August 1958

Time

9.30-9.45pm approx.

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Louis MacNeice (1907-1963)

Playwright

August Strindberg (1849-1912)

Designer

Richard Wilmot

Cast

John Dearth	The Traveller
Stephen Murray	The Archaeologist

Additional details

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

19th-century setting; Swedish drama

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 15 August 1958 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 17; brief mention in article, p. 4

Associated programmes

The Stronger (BBC, 1958)
The Stronger by August Strindberg (1849-1912)
BBC Television