LIMITED ENGAGEMENT
JUNE 27 TO JULY 7, 2024
Theater
for the New City presents the August Strindberg Rep production
of
MISS
JULIE 1925
translated and directed by Robert Greer**
Production
transports Strindberg's greatest masterpiece from a Swedish
manor house in 1888 to a Long Island country estate in 1925.
"Miss Julie" by August Strindberg centers
on a proud, neurotic daughter of the degenerate aristocracy
who is willing to sink her pride in a frenzied attempt to satisfy
her love of sensation. Strindberg originally set the play in
a Swedish manor house in 1888. From June 27 to July 7, Theater
for the New City will present August Strindberg Rep in a production,
translated from the Swedish and adapted by Robert Greer, that
transplants Strindberg's story to a Long Island country estate
in 1925.
In this Americanized retelling, the engagement
of the Governor's daughter, Julie, to the County District Attorney
has just been broken off. It's Fourth of July and an extravagant
party is underway, parallel to the midsummer festivities in
Strindberg’s play. Julie, a young woman of privileged
birth, is headstrong, domineering and emotionally volatile.
On this particular evening, she engages in flirtatious and provocative
behavior with the servants, particularly Jean, her father's
butler. The pair dance and drink at her insistence. Their dynamics
are complex and fraught with tension, driven by a mix of attraction,
power play, and deep-seated class resentments. Jean discloses
that he has been obsessed with Julie since childhood. As the
night progresses, their interactions become increasingly intimate
and manipulative. She, despite her upper-class status, reveals
her vulnerability and desperation. He, ambitious and cunning,
sees an opportunity to exploit her emotional instability to
elevate his social standing.
Hearing the Governor's roughneck field hands singing
a lewd song about them, they hide in Jean's room to avoid being
discovered by these rowdies. Leaving the room, it is revealed
that Jean has seduced Julie there. They plan to flee to Mexico
and open a hotel and she steals her father's cash box to pay
for the trip. But the power balance has shifted. Julie's initial
authority over Jean crumbles as he begins to assert dominance,
revealing his contempt for her aristocratic pretensions and
her emotional weakness. Ultimately their plan is thwarted when
Jean's fiancée, Christine (the cook), announces that
she, enroute to church, will tell the chauffeur not to give
anybody the car keys should they try to get away before the
Governor comes home. Unable to face the certain scandal, Julie
walks out of the kitchen to see one last sunrise before tragically
committing suicide.
Moving Strindberg's play, with its extreme class
consciousness, to an American setting might seem surprising,
but it's a peek into our American social hierarchy that cautions
us against the 21st century redistribution of wealth which is
becoming hardened in our society. The notion that America is
a classless society has always been more myth than reality.
In the jazz age, rich sections of Long Island, such as the Gold
Coast, were known for their opulent mansions and wealthy residents,
starkly contrasting the working-class individuals who served
them. So the setting provides a backdrop of class distinction,
mirroring the original play’s focus on class struggle.
The play will be acted by Natalie Menna (Julie),
Mike Roche (Jean) and Holly O'Brien (Christine). Menna and Roche
last appeared together at TNC in the August Strindberg Rep production
of "Hedda Gabler" in 2022 (she as Hedda, he as Judge
Brack). Menna and O'Brien last appeared together at TNC in January,
2024 in Menna's play "Hiroshi-Me, Me, Me!"
|
Natalie Menna (Hedda) and Mike Roche (Judge
Brack) in "Hedda Gabler," adapted and directed
by Robert Greer, at Theater for the New City, 2022. Photo
by Jonathan Slaff. |
Costume design is by Billy Little. Lighting design
is by Alexander Bartenieff.