FRAGMENTE and 3.31.93.

Lars Norén, generally considered Sweden’s greatest playwright since August Strindberg, has written over 75 plays. While they are regularly per­formed in Nordic and European countries and have been translated into sev­eral languages, English-language readers were deprived of his major works until 2013, when Chaucer Press Books published Two Plays: And Give Us the Shadows and Autumn and Winter, followed by Three Plays: Demons, Act, and Terminal 3 and then by Blood and War. This volume pre­sents two of Norén’s most recent major plays in English that are thematically related, written after the financial collapse of 2008: FRAGMENTE is about what happened to the working class after the collapse, especially how its members—composed of many immigrants hit by layoffs and uncertainty—did their best to live through their often life-threat­ening situation.  3.31.93. is about a middle class neighborhood in a big city whose citizens—fraught with angst, illness and psychological problems after the financial collapse—both depend upon and avoid each other. In both plays horrific, pointless crimes are committed that seemingly reflect the “disconnect” between people and governmental bu­reaucracies attempting desperately, but in vain, to be helpful and caring. What really stands out about these plays, however, is how they capture the charac­ters’ humanity and the essence of their everyday lives, for better or worse. Translator Marita Lindholm Gochman was born in Sweden and came to America in 1964, where she has had a rich theatrical career. In 1985 she translated her first Norén play into English, The Last Supper, and has since translated 25 of his plays—making her Norén’s foremost English language translator. Since 1987 Ms. Gochman, who lives in Manhattan, NY, has served as a board member of Circle in the Square, The Inter­national Theatre Insti­tute, and The Signature Theatre. “Lars Norén, regarded by many as the greatest Swedish playwright since Strindberg, has dealt with the love-hate relationships of modern dysfunctional families in emotionally powerful and sombre plays spiced with absurd humour.” —Encyclopedia Britannica Online “He has made the present time our home and exposed the anxiety beneath the surface of the welfare state.” —Per Wastberg, former chairman of International PEN and editor-in-chief of Sweden’s largest daily newspaper 3