The Pelican

A recently-widowed mother seeks solace in her son-in-law, who eagerly anticipates his inheritance. Her two children, unsettled, question the house that left them cold and hungry. Their father speaks more from beyond the grave than he ever did alive, and the house, steeped in memories, begins to fall apart. August Strindberg’s 1907 classic is a surgical, merciless study of human nature and family relationships. Newly relevant in light of our recent lockdown, it examines the way we form, maintain and destroy our relationships with those closest to us – and the secrets we keep from them.