The Fifth ACT

The Fifth Act comprises three recent scripts (and a brief introductory piece called ""Monologue"") by Ingmar Bergman, trans. from the Swedish by Linda Haverty Rugg and Joan Tate. Texts include ""After the Rehearsal,"" in which a director looks back on a life in the theater; ""The Last Scream,"" which finds a failed film director raging over injustices dealt to him; and ""In the Presence of a Clown,"" featuring a quirky inventor based on Bergman's uncle. Film buffs will be intrigued, but the book may find an even wider appeal: ""it looks like drama but could just as easily be film, television, or simply texts for reading.""