Strindberg Scenes for Two Actors: Miss Julie, The Stronger, Creditors, and Pariah

Your scene partner wants something with teeth. Not a sweet love scene, not a comedy of manners, but two people in one room trying to take each other apart. Somebody says “Strindberg,” and you both nod, and then neither of you knows any scene but the famous kitchen in Miss Julie.

Strindberg is built for this. His late-1880s plays are short, they mostly happen in one room, and almost every scene is two people fighting over who is in charge. The catch is that his English depends on the translator, and the lists that rank for “Strindberg scenes” name the play and stop. They don’t say where to start, where to stop, or that the first duet in Creditors runs about three quarters of an hour.

The short version: below are eight two-person scenes from Miss Julie, The Stronger, Creditors, Pariah, and The Father, each with the line it starts on, the line it ends on, what each character wants, how the words split, and about how long it runs, with a class-sized cut where the full scene is too long. Every quoted line was checked word for word against the Project Gutenberg text of the translation named (dashes are styled for the web). For solo speeches, see our Strindberg monologues for auditions.

Pick a free translation and stay with it

Strindberg wrote in Swedish, so the words you learn are a translator’s. Two old translations cover everything here. Edwin Björkman’s volume with Miss Julia, The Stronger, Creditors, and Pariah is on Project Gutenberg, listed as public domain in the USA; the Internet Archive’s copy of it was published by Scribner in 1913. Edith and Warner Oland’s The Father is on Project Gutenberg too, in a volume whose publisher’s note reports Strindberg’s death in May 1912.

Björkman’s 1913 edition is well inside the line: Cornell’s public domain chart, current as of January 1, 2026, lists works published in the US before 1931 as in the public domain. For the Olands’ volume, go by Project Gutenberg’s own label, which lists it as public domain in the USA. Modern versions are a different matter. Frank McGuinness’s Miss Julie and David Greig’s Creditors, which opened at the Donmar Warehouse in 2008 under Alan Rickman’s direction, are recent versions. If your class uses one, buy or borrow the script.

Notice the titles, too. Björkman calls the play Miss Julia, the Olands call it Countess Julie, and most people say Miss Julie. The lines differ between them, so you and your partner need the same text before anyone learns a word. For Strindberg’s great rival, our Ibsen scenes for two actors does the same for A Doll’s House and Hedda Gabler.

A note on the times. We counted the spoken words in each scene, stage directions out, and divided by 140 words a minute, the pace our acting scripts to practice page uses. Strindberg’s people stall and pounce, so a staged run will be longer. For a competition, check the clock: the International Thespian Excellence Awards acting rules cap a duet at five minutes. Only The Father scene below comes in under five minutes on paper, so time it out loud; the others need a harder cut.

Miss Julie: two scenes after midsummer night

The scene everyone knows is the flirtation before Julie and Jean go to his room. It’s in our dramatic scenes for a man and a woman, in the Olands’ text. The two below come after, in Björkman’s, when the power has changed hands. Strindberg wrote the play in 1888, and the play’s Wikipedia entry notes that the censors banned it at the dress rehearsal before its premiere at the Copenhagen University Student Union.

Julie and Jean: the hotel by the lake

The peasants have danced through the kitchen, and Julie and Jean come back from his room. It starts on Jean’s There you see! And you heard, didn’t you? and runs to Julie’s one-word line, Thief!, when she finds him drinking her father’s Burgundy. In between, he sells her a hotel at the Italian lakes, with her as the chief ornament of the house, and keeps putting off saying he loves her.

What each wants: Julie wants to hear that he loves her, and keeps asking. Jean wants his hotel, and someone to pay for it, and drops the tenderness the moment she can’t. The turn is short. She says A while ago you kissed my shoe—and now! and he answers Yes, that was then. The full stretch is 1,145 words, about 8 minutes, and Jean has more than two thirds of them. For about 6, start at Julie’s All that is all right. But you must give me some courage.

Julie and Jean: the razor and the bell

The end of the play. The cook has gone to church, and Julie and Jean are alone with a razor and the count’s bell. It starts on Jean’s Well, ain’t she a devil! Partway through, the bell rings, the count is home, and Jean, who has been giving the orders all night, shrinks back into a servant: that damned menial is back in my spine again. The bell rings once more at the very end, and the scene closes on his single word, Go!

What each wants: Julie wants someone to decide for her (Command me, and I’ll obey you like a dog!). Jean wants to be free of the bell, and can’t be. It’s 928 words, about 6 and a half minutes, and here Julie has the bigger share. The scene ends with her going out to kill herself, so check it suits the room before you bring it to class.

The Stronger: a duet where one of you never speaks

Christmas Eve, a ladies’ restaurant. Mrs. X, an actress, finds Miss Y, another actress, alone at a table, and talks at her: presents for the children, slippers for her husband, gossip. Miss Y says nothing at all, and partway through, Mrs. X works out from her silence that her husband and this woman had an affair. Björkman, in his introduction, says the silent part has few equals in its demand on the performer’s tact and skill and imagination.

So yes, it’s a real scene for two women, and the second actor is not a prop. Strindberg writes Miss Y’s part entirely in stage directions, and there are only a handful. She starts as if frightened when Mrs. X pops a toy pistol at her. She laughs aloud, then breaks into prolonged laughter at the husband’s slippers. She gazes searchingly at Mrs. X, and once she makes a motion as if intending to speak. Mrs. X cuts her off: No, you don’t need to say anything at all.

Every one of those moments changes what Mrs. X says next, so play them as answers. The whole play is 1,722 spoken words, all hers, about 12 minutes. For about 8, start at Amèlia, spend the evening with us, won’t you? and play to her exit. Our scenes for two women page has more two-woman scenes to compare it with.

Creditors: three duets in one hotel parlor

Adolph, a painter, is at a seaside hotel while his wife Tekla is away. His new friend Gustav has spent a week taking his confidence apart. Adolph doesn’t know that Gustav is Tekla’s first husband. The play is three duets in a row (Adolph and Gustav, Adolph and Tekla, Tekla and Gustav), and the Wikipedia entry on Creditors says Strindberg wrote it in 1888 and his own company first staged it in March 1889, on one bill with Pariah and The Stronger.

Adolph and Gustav: “Look at me!”

Their opening duet is about 6,400 words, roughly three quarters of an hour, so you’ll cut it. The best stretch starts on Adolph’s No, don’t leave me! I don’t dare to be alone! and ends on Gustav’s question Have you a portrait of her? It’s 965 words, about 7 minutes, split almost exactly in half. Gustav gets Adolph up off his crutches, threatens him into standing, and then turns him against his wife:

GUSTAV: Take a turn across the floor!

ADOLPH: I cannot!

GUSTAV: Do what I say, or I’ll strike you!

ADOLPH: [Straightening himself up] What are you saying?

GUSTAV: I’ll strike you, I said.

ADOLPH: [Leaping backward in a rage] You!

Source: August Strindberg, Creditors, translated by Edwin Björkman, Project Gutenberg edition.

What each wants: Gustav wants Adolph to do the damage for him. Adolph wants a friend, and gets a trainer. The trick is that Gustav’s threat is a cure, and he says so straight after: Now you have got the blood into your head. Play it as help, and let the audience see what it costs.

Tekla and Adolph: “Hello, little brother!”

Tekla comes home in high spirits and kisses her husband. It starts on her Hello, little brother! How is he getting on? Soon she’s sitting on the sofa where Gustav sat: The seat is still warm. Adolph, coached, tries to catch her out; she baby-talks him into kissing her. For about 8 and a half minutes, stop on his Yes, I’ll bite you to death!; for about 6 and a half, stop on But little brother doesn’t want any more brothers.

What each wants: Adolph wants proof, one way or the other. Tekla wants him soft and hers, the way he was before she left. Just after the shorter cut, two knocks with a chair come from the next room, where Gustav is listening: the signal they agreed on for when Adolph weakens. Tekla has the larger share of both cuts, and the whole duet runs about 27 minutes.

Tekla and Gustav: the earrings

Adolph goes out, and Gustav walks in, pretending not to see her. It starts on Tekla’s Oh, is it you? and runs about 8 minutes, to her Now you stop! when he describes where the bed stood in this very room. On the way, he notices you are still wearing the ear-rings I gave you, and she takes one off.

The second half starts on his Look at me! and runs about 7 minutes, to It has been done. It has the line every Gustav waits for, that he holds the first mortgage on you, and the turn where she realizes what he’s done to Adolph: Now I begin to see what a hideous creature you are! What each wants: Gustav wants revenge, by taking her back for one night. Tekla wants to be admired, and finds out too late who’s admiring her.

Pariah: two men, one secret each

If you need a scene for two men, this is the one, because the whole play is two men. Mr. X, an archaeologist, and Mr. Y, a visitor who collects insects, sit in a farmhouse room on a hot morning after church, with a thunderstorm coming. Mr. X admits he once killed a man and was never punished. Mr. Y, who has done two years of hard labor for forgery, sees money in it. The Wikipedia entry on Pariah notes that Strindberg wrote it in the winter of 1888-89. Björkman, who says he helped stage-manage an 1889 performance, calls its theme a duel between intellect and cunning.

The whole play is about 5,300 words, well over half an hour, and Mr. X has about two thirds of them. The ending is the best cut. Start on Mr. Y’s Am I a coward? You think so?, where he tries blackmail, and stop on Mr. X’s Now you can go. It runs about 7 and a half minutes. The turn is a mirror and a book. Mr. X looks past Mr. Y’s shoulder and says I see in the mirror that you are a thief, because Mr. Y put a book back upside down.

What each wants: Mr. Y wants six thousand crowns. Mr. X wants to stay a man who isn’t a thief, and decides he’d rather go to the sheriff himself. Play Mr. X’s detective work as slow and pleased with itself, and Mr. Y’s collapse as fast. For more pairings, see our scenes for two men.

The Father: the shortest fight

In the Olands’ translation of The Father, the Captain and his wife Laura are fighting over where their daughter Bertha will be educated. He sends Bertha out of the room. It starts on Laura’s You were afraid of hearing her opinion and ends on her That will be interesting. In between, she plants the doubt that destroys him: You do not know whether you are Bertha’s father or not.

What each wants: the Captain wants to win by rights, as the husband and father. Laura wants the child, and finds a weapon he can’t answer. It’s about 590 words, about 4 minutes, the only scene here under five on paper, and Laura has most of them. His answers shrink to Stop now! while hers grow, all the way to I have never looked at a man without knowing myself to be his superior.

How to play a Strindberg fight without shouting

Strindberg scenes look like screaming matches on the page. They play better as chess. In his preface to Miss Julia, Strindberg says he avoided neat, symmetrical dialogue and instead permitted the minds to work irregularly. Topics are dropped and then picked up again, repeated, like a theme in music. That’s your map. Our guide on how to play an argument scene covers the general method; here is what’s particular to Strindberg.

• Find who holds power on each page, and mark the line where it changes hands. Julie’s shoe, Gustav’s earrings, Mr. X’s mirror. Play everything before that line as if it might not happen.
• Track the returning topic. Tekla’s “little brother,” Jean’s bell, Gustav’s “Look at me!” Each time it comes back, it means something worse. Say it differently every time.
• Don’t confuse talking with winning. Miss Y never speaks, and the play is still a fight. In The Father, the Captain’s answers shrink to Stop now! as he loses ground, and in Pariah, Mr. Y is down to May I go now?
• Save the volume for one moment. If Adolph shouts from the start, his I hate you! I curse you! has nowhere to go.
• Count the split before you agree to a scene. Jean, Gustav, and Mr. X often talk far more than their partners, so if your class grades both actors, give the shorter part the turn.

Our free script line counter shows who has how many lines in a pasted scene, and the cue script maker turns your part into lines with their cues.

Rehearse it before you meet your partner

Strindberg’s cues come fast and short (“Thief!” “Go!”), and his pauses do as much work as the words. If you learn your lines alone without hearing the other part, you’ll be late on every cue and rushed through every silence.

In Offbook, upload the scene in the translation you’ve chosen and pick your part, and realistic voices read the other one, then wait while you say your line before cueing the next. As the video below shows, you can set how fast your partner’s voice talks and add a beat before a line, so Gustav can take his time before Look at me! and you can practice holding a silence instead of filling it.

Playing Miss Y? Upload The Stronger and use listen mode, which plays the whole scene aloud, so you can rehearse her reactions to every word of Mrs. X, beat by beat. When you’re close, hide your own lines and run the scene from memory. If you just want to warm up, our free run lines online tool rehearses classic scenes and waits for your line, with no account. Our guide on how to prepare a scene for acting class has the week-by-week plan.

Questions actors ask

What is the best Strindberg scene to start with?

For a man and a woman, the Tekla and Adolph opening in Creditors: it’s playful on top, frightening underneath, and the cut is easy to find. For two men, the end of Pariah. For a short one, Laura and the Captain in Act 1 of The Father, about 4 minutes.

Is The Stronger a good scene for two women?

Yes, if both actors know what they’re signing up for. Mrs. X has every word, about 12 minutes of them, and Miss Y has only stage directions. It’s a test of listening for one actor and of driving a scene alone for the other.

Which translation of Miss Julie is public domain?

In the US, Edwin Björkman’s Miss Julia (Scribner, 1913) and Edith and Warner Oland’s Countess Julie (Boston, about 1912) are both free: Project Gutenberg lists both as public domain in the USA. For a recent translation, buy or borrow the script.

Can I rehearse a Strindberg scene without my partner?

Yes. Rehearse on your laptop with the full script on a big screen, and Offbook’s voices read your partner’s lines and wait for yours. You can also listen to your scenes on your phone anywhere, which helps with the cues.