SOURCE: Bruckner, D. J. R. “More of Strindberg's Peace amid Misery.” New York Times (March 15, 2002): E.

In the following review, Bruckner comments on the production of The Dance of Death at the Bouwerie Lane Theater, New York, directed by Karen Lordi.

The Jean Cocteau Repertory company certainly has its mettle tested this year. Its production of Strindberg's Dance of Death recently entered its 2001-2 roster less than six weeks after the closing of a Broadway adaptation with the vastly admired British stars Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren in the leading roles. It's good to see that the Cocteau, using a translation that Strindberg signed off on, was not intimidated by the uptown competition. We can never see too many versions; each reveals something new about how much of 20th-century theater was created in those two hours, first onstage a century ago.

In the shabby elegance of the little...