MISS JULIE To 28 November.
Kingston.
MISS JULIE
by August Strindberg translated by Kenneth McLeish.
Rose Theatre In rep to 28 November 2009.
7.30pm 5, 6, 11, 13, 20, 25, 28 Nov.
2pm 7, 14, 21, 26 Nov.
Audio-described 21 Nov 2pm (+Touch Tour 12.30pm).
Captioned 20 Nov.
Runs 1hr 25min No interval.
TICKETS: 0871 230 1552.
www.rosetheatrekingston.org
Review: Timothy Ramsden 31 October.
Performers outshine design.
Strangely, August Strindberg’s chamber-piece is performed on a much larger playing-area than its companion in the Rose Theatre’s ‘Behind Closed doors’ season. While the eight-strong cast of Alan Ayckbourn’s Bedroom Farce co-exist in a row of rooms at the front of the Rose’s playing-area, all is opened up for this essentially three-hander.
Using no closed doors, designer Simon Higlett shows bedrooms either side of the kitchen where servants Jean and Kristen work and which Julie, unconventionally brought-up daughter of the house, visits.
Including these bedrooms has a purpose – Jean’s is used briefly for the sex Julie seduces him into, Kristen’s shown sleeping then preparing for church. But in a naturalistic play it raises questions. Seeing Lucy Briers’ Kristen nearby emphasises how Jean and Julie’s screaming matches pay no heed to the risk she’ll overhear.
The tall birch trees surrounding the room make it an isolated building rather than the lower quarters of a greater house, to which the master returns with a commanding ring for coffee and polished boots. It’s fine to see Kristen tramp off to church through the trees, but not to see Julie approaching. If this is a separate building, why do the drunken peasants invade it, singing a bawdy song aimed at Julie?
Design apart, this is a classy outing for Strindberg’s sex-and-class tragedy. Daniel Betts’ Jean hasn’t the blazing desire for upward social mobility seen in some productions, but given the way Briers’ Kristen flares-up in anger at the way of things being disturbed and her calm efficiency in scuppering the others’ plans, it’s entirely logical Jean should be fantasising about an alternative future to the one inevitably before him.
Rachel Pickup’s Julie has a lightness of manner suggesting the immaturity of someone who’s been protected from much in life. The contrast between Pickup’s elegant apparel and anxious manner suggests Julie has more to learn than she will cope with. Stephen Unwin’s production might not extract every drop of intensity from Strindberg - the accounts of dreams and earlier experiences have little prominence - but it provides a coherent journey through this mad midsummer’s night.
Jean: Daniel Betts.
Kristen: Lucy Briers.
Julie: Rachel Pickup.
Peasants: KUDDOS Students.
Director: Stephen Unwin.
Designer: Simon Higlett.
Lighting: Peter Mumford.
Sound: Gregory Clarke.
Music: Olly Fox.
Choreographer: Jason Piper.
Costume: Mark Bouman, Mia Flodquist.
Associate director: Natascha Metherell.
2009-11-02 01:45:45