After Miss Julie - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

After Miss Julie is a play

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

which relocates August Strindberg

August Strindberg

Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...

's naturalist tragedy, Miss Julie
Miss Julie
Miss Julie is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg dealing with class, love, lust, the battle of the sexes, and the interaction among them...

(1888), to an English country house in July 1945. The re-imagining of the events of Strindberg's original are transposed to the night of the British Labour Party's

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

"landslide" election victory.

Plot and Characters

There are only three characters in After Miss Julie; Miss Julie, a rich lady in her 20s, and two servants: John, a valet/chauffer, aged 30, and Christine, a cook aged 35. The action takes place in the kitchen of a large country house outside London, when the British Labour Party have just won their famous 'landslide' election victory.

Screen History

After Miss Julie, written and directed by Patrick Marber

Patrick Marber

Patrick Albert Crispin Marber is an English comedian, playwright, director, puppeteer, actor and screenwriter.-Early life and education:...

, was screened by BBC Two

BBC Two

BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

on 4 November 1995 as part of the Performance season. Miss Julie was played by Geraldine Somerville

Geraldine Somerville

Geraldine Margaret Agnew-Somerville is a British actress best known for her roles as Detective Sergeant Jane "Panhandle" Penhaligon in Cracker, and Lily Potter in the Harry Potter film series.-Early life:...

, John was played by Phil Daniels

Phil Daniels

Philip W. "Phil" Daniels is an English actor, most noted for film and television roles as "cockneys" such as Jimmy in Quadrophenia, Richards in Scum, Stewart in The Class of Miss MacMichael, Mark in Meantime, Kevin Wicks in EastEnders, DCS Frank Patterson in New Tricks and Edward Kitchener "Ted"...

and Christine was played by Kathy Burke

Kathy Burke

Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke is an English actress, comedienne, playwright and theatre director. She is best known for her portrayals of Perry in the Harry Enfield film Kevin and Perry Go Large, and of Linda La Hughes in the British sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme...

Stage History

The Stage Premiere was at the Donmar Warehouse

Donmar Warehouse

Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...

in London on 20 November 2003; its run ended on 7 February 2004. The three characters were played by Kelly Reilly (Miss Julie), Richard Coyle

Richard Coyle

Richard Coyle is an English actor.-Early life:Coyle was born in Sheffield, England to Irish parents. He began his acting career after a stint working on a ferry entertaining passengers, where he was told by a theatre director that he had a talent and should pursue it further...

(John) and Helen Baxendale

Helen Baxendale

Helen Victoria Baxendale is an English actress of stage and television, possibly best-known for her roles in Cold Feet, Friends and Cardiac Arrest.-Early life:...

(Christine). The production was directed by Michael Grandage

Michael Grandage

Michael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer, and current Artistic Director at the Donmar Warehouse, London. Grandage won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Red.-Early years:...

. It received generally very positive reviews, Kelly Reilly particularly praised for her performance. The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

said it was "an unforgettable night of white-hot theatrical intensity" and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

The Regional Premiere was at the Theatre By The Lake in Keswick on Friday, 28 July 2006. Its run ended on1 November 2006. The characters were played by Juliette Goodman (Miss Julie), Guy Parry (John) and Polly Lister (Christine). It was directed by Simon H West. The production was praised for its impact, acting and sexual charge.

Salisbury Playouse is producing a new production of After Miss Julie from 1–24 October 2009, directed by Tom Daley.

Broadway

Most recently, the Roundabout Theatre Company

Roundabout Theatre Company

The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in New York City.-History:The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist and Elizabeth Owens and now operates five theatres, all in Manhattan: the American Airlines Theatre ; Studio 54 ; the Stephen Sondheim Theatre The...

produced a version of "After Miss Julie". The production had its Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

Premiere on 22 October 2009 at the American Airlines Theatre

American Airlines Theatre

The American Airlines Theatre is a Broadway theatre, located at 227 West 42nd Street, New York City.-Design:Originally named the Selwyn Theatre, it was constructed by the Selwyn brothers, Edgar and Archie, in 1918. It was one of three theatres they built and controlled on 42nd Street, along with...

to respectable reviews. Critic-O-Meter has given the show a C+ based on 4 A level reviews, 8 B level reviews, 4 C level reviews, and 5 D level reviews. The production stars Sienna Miller

Sienna Miller

Sienna Rose Diana Miller is a British-American actress, model, and fashion designer, best known for her roles in Layer Cake, Alfie, Factory Girl, The Edge of Love and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In 2007, the London Film Criticsnamed her British Actress of the Year for Interview...

(Miss Julie), Jonny Lee Miller

Jonny Lee Miller

Jonathan "Jonny" Lee Miller is an English actor. During the initial days he was best known for his roles in the 1996 films Trainspotting and Hackers...

(John) and Marin Ireland

Marin Ireland

Marin Ireland is an American film, stage and television actress.She won the 2009 Theatre World Award and was nominated for a 2009 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in reasons to be pretty.-Education:...

(Christine) and is directed by Mark Brokaw

Mark Brokaw

Mark Brokaw is a stage director. He won the Drama Desk Award, Obie Award and Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Director of a Play for How I Learned to Drive.Brokaw was raised in Aledo, Illinois and graduated from the Yale Drama School...

. The New York Times gave a generally passable review, saying Sienna Miller 'conveys anger, self-abasement, sorrow and fear very clearly and, on occasion, convincingly. But the segues among these feelings are never natural, let alone inevitable, so that when events take a turn for the lurid, the audience is laughing when it should be recoiling.' However, he said we should 'continue to give Ms. Miller points for courage, for appearing in this Roundabout Theater Company production' and playing 'the highborn, low-stooping Miss Julie' who 'is a challenge for even the most seasoned actress'.

Newday's Linda Winer called Sienna Miller "awfully actressy at the start of the 90-minute drama, purposefully meandering in her clingy summer dress and camera-ready makeup." But she becomes "more believable" later in the play "as powers keep shifting from predator to victim, from lust to tenderness to violence and back." The reviewer complimented Jonny Lee Miller's performance, writing that he "twitches and flips between being an upward-mobile hustler and a besotted slave to the landowner's overheated daughter, who hunts him down in the huge old kitchen of the estate."

Variety stated that "Sienna Miller is out of her depth in the title role, making her dance of power and death an unaffecting tragedy." He described Jonny Lee Miller as 'first-rate' and of Marine Ireland he said she was 'overemphatic as the woman who blocks Julie's way'.

The Associated Press' critic Michael Kuchwara

Michael Kuchwara

Michael Charlies Kuchwara was an American theater critic, columnist and journalist. Kuchwara worked as both a critic and journalist for the Associated Press for more than from 1984 until 2010, writing pieces that were read worldwide...

said "there is a relentless quality to Sienna Miller's performance, not terribly subtle or vulnerable, but compelling in its obsessiveness". As for the overall production, he stated that ' it makes for quite an explosive evening.'

The Chicago Tribune described Sienna Miller as "eminently watchable" as well as "gutsy".

Time Out NY's David Cote gave the show a rave review describing Sienna Miller as "a precise and emotionally raw Miss Julie." and later saying "Yes, she has movie-star glamour, but Miller doesn't rest on her curvaceous laurels. She goes on a harrowing journey that ends in tragic despair." He ended his review by proclaiming "After quite a few lukewarm revivals, it's nice to see the Roundabout revive a classic beyond period dress-up. Although casting Miller may have been a gamble, it's one that pays off."

USA Today's Elysa Gardner said of Sienna Miller "She's at once willful and confused, sad and irritating. It is, for all its surface bravado — Miller speaks loudly and crisply, almost spitting out her lines at times — a nuanced performance." She gave the show 3 out of 4 stars.

Backstage's Erik Haagensen was notably fond of Sienna Miller's portrayal of Miss Julie explaining "Film star Sienna Miller essays the title character. Though this is only her second stage appearance, she is clearly to the medium born." He went off to say "Even when Miss Julie's actions threaten to destroy everyone around her, Miller makes her selfishness understandable and even sympathetic."

External links

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