August Strindberg died at Stockholm On May 14, 1912, just ten days
after the first of his plays given in English in the United States
had completed a month's engagement. This play was "The Father,"
which, on April 9, 1912, was produced at the Berkeley Theatre in
New York, the same little theatre that witnessed in 1894 the first
performance in this country of Ibsen's "Ghosts."

It happened that August Lindberg, the eminent Swedish actor and
friend of Strindberg [who, by the way, was the first producer of
"Ghosts" in any language], was visiting this country and came to
see a performance of "The Father." His enthusiasm over the
interpretation given Strindberg, in the English rendering of the
play as well as in the acting, led him to cable a congratulatory
message to Strindberg; and upon departing for Stockholm, he asked
for some of the many letters of appreciation from significant
sources which the production of "The Father" had called forth.
These he wished to give to Strindberg as further assurance "that he
has," to use Herr Lindberg's words, "the right representatives in
this country." It is gratifying to those who esteem it a rare
privilege to be the introducers of Strindberg's powerful dramatic
art to the American stage to know that he finally found his genius
recognized on this side of the ocean.

"Comrades," the first play in the present volume, belongs to the
same momentous creative period as "The Father" and "Countess
Julie," although there is little anecdotic history attaching to
this vigorous comedy. It was written in Denmark, where Strindberg,
after finishing "The Father" in Switzerland in 1887, went with his
family to live for two years, and was published March 21, 1888.