In the fall of 2018,I was contacted by a theater on Broadway in New York City. They were then working with an upcoming production in New York of August Strindberg’s “The Dance of Death”. They had come across my website while researching uniforms. The main character in the play is a "Captain at a coastal artillery fortress" in Sweden and the production team needed information about Swedish military uniforms, i.e. detailed information about a Capitan’s full dress uniform and old, worn fatigues, around 1900. The play was written by August Strindberg in 1900. The story is about a man and wife who hate each other, who are brutally and ferociously vicious towards each other, who are trapped in a miserable marriage. The husband, Edgar, is an artillery captain and a tyrant of a man. His wife, Alice, is a former actress. They live somewhat isolated at a fortress on an island and are not popular or social. Their children do not live with them; each parent has turned the children against the other parent. The Captain and his wife are absolutely out of money. The coastal fortress is located on an island close to Vaxholm town, just north of Stockholm. I have a website with articles about Swedish military history and it was these pages the production team had found and the reason why the contacted me for information about a Capitan’s uniforms in 1900, rank insignias, orders, and medals etc. Other queries they had was about a Captain’s status in society, pay, education, military training etc. A few queries were more closely related to the fictive Captain which was more difficult to answer since the Captain wasn’t a Captain in real life. However, the theater email the screenplay to me so I could make my own view of the main character in the play; the Captain.The Vaxholm Fortress isn’t mentioned by name in the play but there aren’t that many fortresses in the area still standing in 1900. So, I’m sure Strindberg must have had the Vaxholm Fortress in his mind when he wrote the play.Vaxholm Fortress is a historic fortification on the island of Vaxholmen in the Stockholm archipelago just east of the town of Vaxholm.Vaxholm fortress as seen from Vaxholm town.I emailed images of the uniform a Capitan was wearing in 1900 including rank insignias and of course answered the questions the theater had about the military and the life of the fictive Capitan.I did the research with the theater between October and Christmas 2018.The image to the right shows writer August Strindberg 1882. Image Wikipedia.Hans HögmanInvolved in BBC:s Who Do You Think You Are 2019Author with Swedish American Genealogist Genealogical Award - "Årets Eldsjäl" 2017About me
In the fall of 2018,I was contacted by a theater on Broadway in New York City. They were then working with an upcoming production in New York of August Strindberg’s“The Dance of Death”. They had come across my website while researching uniforms. The main character in the play is a "Captain at a coastal artillery fortress" in Sweden and the production team needed information about Swedish military uniforms, i.e. detailed information about a Capitan’s full dress uniform and old, worn fatigues, around 1900. The play was written by August Strindberg in 1900. The story is about a man and wife who hate each other, who are brutally and ferociously vicious towards each other, who are trapped in a miserable marriage. The husband, Edgar, is an artillery captain and a tyrant of a man. His wife, Alice, is a former actress. They live somewhat isolated at a fortress on an island and are not popular or social. Their children do not live with them; each parent has turned the children against the other parent. The Captain and his wife are absolutely out of money. The coastal fortress is located on an island close to Vaxholm town, just north of Stockholm. I have a website with articles about Swedish military history and it was these pages the production team had found and the reason why the contacted me for information about a Capitan’s uniforms in 1900, rank insignias, orders, and medals etc. Other queries they had was about a Captain’s status in society, pay, education, military training etc. A few queries were more closely related to the fictive Captain which was more difficult to answer since the Captain wasn’t a Captain in real life. However, the theater email the screenplay to me so I could make my own view of the main character in the play; the Captain.The Vaxholm Fortress isn’t mentioned by name in the play but there aren’t that many fortresses in the area still standing in 1900. So, I’m sure Strindberg must have had the Vaxholm Fortress in his mind when he wrote the play.Vaxholm Fortress is a historic fortification on the island of Vaxholmen in the Stockholm archipelago just east of the town of Vaxholm.Vaxholm fortress as seen from Vaxholm town.I emailed images of the uniform a Capitan was wearing in 1900 including rank insignias and of course answered the questions the theater had about the military and the life of the fictive Capitan.I did the research with the theater between October and Christmas 2018.The image to the right shows writer August Strindberg 1882. Image Wikipedia.Hans HögmanInvolved in BBC:s Who Do You Think You Are 2019Author with Swedish American Genealogist Genealogical Award - "Årets Eldsjäl" 2017About me
