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Once-scandalous ‘Miss Julie' seems pretty mild in new British version
BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
BROADWAY REVIEW
All right, students of the drama, let's review: "Miss Julie" is August Strindberg's 1888 psychosexual tragedy regarding a fatal midnight encounter between a neurotic aristocrat and her papa's striving manservant.
Shocking as the sex angle seemed way back then, the very notion of a noble lady coupling with a peasant once was considered equally inflammatory.
Today, when class distinctions involve only money and fame, the entire noblesse oblige theme of "Miss Julie" resonates no longer. Further, in the lurid light of our own trashy times, what's the big deal about two single adults having consensual sex? So poor "Miss Julie" is something of a stiff nowadays.
For no good reason, playwright Patrick Marber ("Closer," "Dealer's Choice") explicates the social niceties of Strindberg's Swedish one-act. He moves the action to a stately English mansion in post-war 1945 on the night when a new Labor government takes power and begins to demolish the nation's class system.The result is Marber's "After Miss Julie," which opened Thursday at the American Airlines Theatre.
Of course, since many American viewers know as little about British history and sociology as they do about Strindberg's original Swedish context, Marber's version merely substitutes a different layer of obscurity.
What's left then is the basic tale of a woman so unnerved by first-time sex that she kills herself. (Oh, don't yell "spoiler" about divulging a 120-year-old plot; besides, knowing the outcome makes the play's dynamics more interesting to observe.) Whether it's "Miss Julie" or "After Miss Julie," this dated story today possesses little drama other than whatever emotional fire a director and actors can spark from it.
An excellent director ("How I Learned to Drive," "This Is Our Youth"), Mark Brokaw situates the play's upstairs/downstairs conflict within the gloomy realism of a manor house kitchen. Aside from a laughably rushed final exit as Miss Julie briskly marches out the door to her doom, Brokaw does capably by the drama's mutable rhythms. He carefully uses body language to illustrate class differences as the story's two servants react respectfully - or otherwise - towards their blue-blood employer.
In their Broadway debuts as Miss Julie and John (here depicted as the family chauffeur), Sienna Miller ("Factory Girl") and Jonny Lee Miller ("Eli Stone") cut effectively contrasting figures. Looking fragile, teetering in white high heels and a flower-sprigged frock, she's blond, slender and edgy. He's dark, sturdy and appears far healthier than she does.
The actors go through their characters' alternately teasing, abusing and manhandling paces ably enough but, unfortunately, not much heat ever gets generated around — or upon — that kitchen table. Despite the play's 80-minute running time, a few viewers may find themselves copying Marin Ireland's beautifully grounded performance as the cook Christine - who dozes off midway through the story.
Unless someone is an unconditional fan of either Miller, there's little reason to see Roundabout Theatre Company's so-what production, which, considering the questionable necessity for reviving the piece at all these days, might better be titled "Why Miss Julie?"
"After Miss Julie" continues through Dec. 6 at American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St., New York. Call (212) 719-1300 or visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.
