Julie -Polly Stenham
RATING ★ ★ ★
Directed by Carrie Cracknell
National Theatre
July 2018
Polly Stenham is an ambitious modern playwright, who wrote her first play at the age of nineteen. That Face premiered at the Royal Court and since then her career has been on a steady incline. In 2014, her play Shed graced the stage of the National and told the story of a middle class family held hostage on a holiday in Africa. Julie takes a different turn altogether. Moving four years along Stenham’s career, she tackles her first professional staged adaptation. Julie is a modernised version of Strindberg’s 1889 classic to contemporary London - a seemingly common feature for the London theatre scene at the moment, namely Yerma (Young Vic) and Hedda Gabler (National Theatre).
Liberal hypocrisy takes centre stage in Stenham’s adaptation. The upper class is scrutinised and the essence of privilege is brought into the spotlight. Now a spoilt, never-worked, thirtysomething Londoner, Vanessa Kirby takes the lead as Julie. A character who is weighed down by a mythological pain and a lazy stubbornness which prevents her from obtaining a sense of self worth.
As always, the National never fails to impress with set design. Tom Scutt inspires with a large-scale white box kitchen, including countless fridges and dishwashers, a nod towards excessive wealth and entitlement. Lighting and sound designed by Guy Hoare and Christopher Shutt respectively, emalgamate to create a house party scene with trippy colours and intrusive bass.
What made Miss Julie so groundbreaking when it premiered at the end of the nineteenth century was the representation of a sexual relationship onstage between the lower and upper classes. Put simply, the taboo relationship shocked, angered, and amazed audiences. This is the true essence of Strindberg’s classic.
The primary issue with Stenham’s portrayal is that, despite efforts in trying to locate taboo subject matter with Jean and Julie’s relationship, the modernisation does not quite fit. The audience is led to believe that because Jeans’ father is Julie’s family driver and therefore a class divide, they would be ridiculed for having sexual relations. There is a fundamental disconnect here as twenty-first century Britain certainly allows for races, genders and classes to mix without fingers pointing or people judging. Jean, characterised by Eric Kofi Abrefa, suggests that they should pack up, move to Cape Verde and open a restaurant, which seems an usual solution for 'feeling trapped' in 2018 London. Perhaps a holiday abroad or a new life in the country might make more sense...
Kirby gives a strong performance as Julie, capturing the innate sadness that shrouds her character by the end of the play. Thalissa Teixeira shines as the maid Kristina, a woman caught up in this environment of questionable morality but still projects sensibility and hope.
Elements of the production captivate, particularly the lasting image of sheer helplessness, but the audience is left to question whether Strindberg’s classic can operate in contemporary London, a hustling and bustling sanctuary of openness and liberalism. If it can, then perhaps Julie has missed a trick...
RATING ★ ★ ★
Directed by Carrie Cracknell
National Theatre
July 2018
Polly Stenham is an ambitious modern playwright, who wrote her first play at the age of nineteen. That Face premiered at the Royal Court and since then her career has been on a steady incline. In 2014, her play Shed graced the stage of the National and told the story of a middle class family held hostage on a holiday in Africa. Julie takes a different turn altogether. Moving four years along Stenham’s career, she tackles her first professional staged adaptation. Julie is a modernised version of Strindberg’s 1889 classic to contemporary London - a seemingly common feature for the London theatre scene at the moment, namely Yerma (Young Vic) and Hedda Gabler (National Theatre).
Liberal hypocrisy takes centre stage in Stenham’s adaptation. The upper class is scrutinised and the essence of privilege is brought into the spotlight. Now a spoilt, never-worked, thirtysomething Londoner, Vanessa Kirby takes the lead as Julie. A character who is weighed down by a mythological pain and a lazy stubbornness which prevents her from obtaining a sense of self worth.
As always, the National never fails to impress with set design. Tom Scutt inspires with a large-scale white box kitchen, including countless fridges and dishwashers, a nod towards excessive wealth and entitlement. Lighting and sound designed by Guy Hoare and Christopher Shutt respectively, emalgamate to create a house party scene with trippy colours and intrusive bass.
What made Miss Julie so groundbreaking when it premiered at the end of the nineteenth century was the representation of a sexual relationship onstage between the lower and upper classes. Put simply, the taboo relationship shocked, angered, and amazed audiences. This is the true essence of Strindberg’s classic.
The primary issue with Stenham’s portrayal is that, despite efforts in trying to locate taboo subject matter with Jean and Julie’s relationship, the modernisation does not quite fit. The audience is led to believe that because Jeans’ father is Julie’s family driver and therefore a class divide, they would be ridiculed for having sexual relations. There is a fundamental disconnect here as twenty-first century Britain certainly allows for races, genders and classes to mix without fingers pointing or people judging. Jean, characterised by Eric Kofi Abrefa, suggests that they should pack up, move to Cape Verde and open a restaurant, which seems an usual solution for 'feeling trapped' in 2018 London. Perhaps a holiday abroad or a new life in the country might make more sense...
Kirby gives a strong performance as Julie, capturing the innate sadness that shrouds her character by the end of the play. Thalissa Teixeira shines as the maid Kristina, a woman caught up in this environment of questionable morality but still projects sensibility and hope.
Elements of the production captivate, particularly the lasting image of sheer helplessness, but the audience is left to question whether Strindberg’s classic can operate in contemporary London, a hustling and bustling sanctuary of openness and liberalism. If it can, then perhaps Julie has missed a trick...