Ingmar Bergman's plays available

Foundation hires Josef Wienberger to license

By SAM THIELMAN

Josef Weinberger will handle licensing rights to theater versions of Ingmar Bergman pics such as 'Scenes From a Marriage.'

The Ingmar Bergman Foundation has appointed U.K.-based agency Josef Wienberger as licensing agent for Bergman's stage works. The late filmmaker donated the rights to his plays to the foundation in 2006, including live theater versions of "Scenes From a Marriage" and "Autumn Sonata."

Bergman wrote and directed theater prior to moving into film and continued to work in theater until shortly before his death last year. Extant plays include stage versions of many of his films as well as shows such as "After the Rehearsal," which incorporated the work of playwright August Strindberg.

"Interest for the staging of the film manuscripts arose when they were first published as literary works," explained Bergman Foundation CEO Ingrid Dahlberg.