So this weekend I travelled to the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith to see a new and highly praised production of Augustus Strindberg's play Miss Julie aptly renamed Mies Julie.
Having studied the play at school, what feels like a lifetime ago, I was was keen to see how the South African based Baxter Theatre Centre, would translate the sexually explosive play to make it relevant to a modern audience.
The play was written in 1888 and its clear, for all those who have studied the play, that Strindberg wasn't overly fond of women and that the battle between sex and class is central to the plot. Women aren't perceived in the same way as they were back in the late 19th Century. Women can work and have a family or even become the CEO of some of the top businesses in the world. Unless you are playing it as a piece of late Victorian drama then you can't update it.... well so I thought.
Director, Yael Farber, has transported the play away from the Victorian era to post apartheid South Africa. As the audience, we observed the personal struggles, ambitions and fears of the characters in the play who were left in the aftermath of the apartheid. From the first line you were swept up in the emotive dialogue, aware of the bareness of the stage and haunted by the constant droning of the backing track all of which evoked the hopelessness of the original play.
Hilda Cronje's Mies Julie, teased her way across the stage radiating feminine sexuality in the first half before melting into moments of hysteria and vulnerability as Julie gradually looses control. Bongile Mantsai captured the ambitious nature of John, seeking any means to take what is rightfully his. Although aggressive at times towards Julie, Bongile brought to life the good side of John through his devotion to his mother who he is desperate to please.
It's a powerful re-telling of the play which shouldn't be missed! Visit www.riversidestudios.co.uk to book your tickets.
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