Through a Glass Darkly - Almeida Theatre

SynopsisRuth WilsonPhoto: Simon AnnandThrough a Glass Darkly follows Karin, her doctor husband Martin, father David, and sixteen yearold brother Max, on their annual family holiday on the island of Fårö in Sweden. Karin suffers fromschizophrenia, which is never mentioned by name but very strongly alluded to in Karin’s hearingof voices and moments of being ‘elsewhere’. Through the course of the play revelations emergeabout the family, and a picture becomes clear of each family member’s self-perceived inadequacyand struggle with their place, not just in the world, but in the family structure.Karin wants to bring the family together but only her illness – and therein her possible destruction– can seem do this; her husband Martin wants her to be well, but his doctor’s toolkit does notcontain what she needs as a cure; her brother Max, caught between manhood and boyhood,wants approval from their father and a closeness from the family that he has never reached; andfather David, a successful writer without having written a single piece of ‘great literature’, ispainfully caught up in his own inadequacy, both as a father and writer.Karin’s attempts at forging a closer a relationship between Max and David are thwarted by David’sreaction to his son giving him a play he has written. He leaves it on the dinner table and Max isupset. Karin soothes Max but he warns her that he is becoming a man and his feelings arechanging: she cannot hug and kiss him like she used to. David’s constant - albeit inadvertent -attempts to break away from the family do not go unnoticed by Martin, who warns David to takebetter care of his ill daughter. Meanwhile, Karin’s health deteriorates. Unable to sleep and madeanxious by the noise of birds, she enters another world where she hears voices calling her, in aroom hidden behind a wall where God is waiting for her. Alone with Max, she begs him to helpher and they end up committing an act of incest. Karin now realises she is too dangerous topursue a life in the real world. Finally, the illness dominates her mind and she needs to be sedatedand held down whilst an ambulance is called to take her to hospital. The play ends on a momentof hope where we glimpse the faintest chance that the family will pull together to help her recover.A detailed plot summary follows.Resource Pack: Through A Glass Darkly by Ingmar Bergman 4