Miss Julie - Review

Etcetera Theatre, London


***


Written by August Strindberg
Translated by Michael Meyer
Directed by Gary Condes

Danielle Henry, Charlie Dorfman and Laura Greenwood

Written originally by August Strindberg and translated here by Michael Meyer, Miss Julie is set on Midsummers Eve during a party on the estate of a rich Swedish Count whose daughter is known for behaving, not only with wild abandon, but also below her status. She finds a fascination with the older and well educated valet of the estate, Jean and the two become entangled in a dangerous infatuation that endangers both his engagement with the family cook and her own status in the house.

Laura Greenwood plays the titular Julie and while during points of extreme and heightened emotion, she is committed and impressive, her more relaxed and informal moments lack conviction. A deeply disturbed character such as Julie demands a more complex passionate emotion to lie behind her eyes.

Similarly there is a lack of convincing chemistry between Greenwood and Charlie Dorfman who plays Jean the valet. The struggle of circumstance and passionate attraction between the pair, separated by class and education, should hold the two in a fiery grip – and this is, at times, absent.

Dorfman clearly has the makings of a strong and versatile actor. There is intention behind his choices and in his moments of stillness he is truly moving. However, his accent was unplaceable, with a mix of Northern, Scottish and at times London intonations. This is nothing that a voice coach cannot fix but it should be done quickly! 

Danielle Henry as Kristin, the household cook and, critically, Dorfman’s fiancée, has of the three performers, significantly less stage time however she radiates a beautiful truth. The thought process behind each line and movement is visible from the beginning – from struggling to take the laundry down from the walls, to giving a moving speech about her belief in God. Henry is by far the play's shining performer.

The creative team behind this production are experienced and have sound vision. Carla Goodman’s set is detailed with an old fashioned stove, ornaments and dried herbs and flowers hanging from every nook and cranny, setting a rustic feel that only adds to the authenticity of the 19th century kitchen in which the whole play takes place. Likewise, Goodman’s costumes also excellent.

Situated above The Oxford Arms pub, the Etcetera Theatre embodies the class that London's fringe theatre deserves. The space is charming and the acoustics are wonderful. Notwithstanding its flaws, the execution and design of Miss Julie is impressive and The Buckland Theatre Company should be proud of their premiere production.

Runs until 19th March

Guest reviewer: Charlotte Darcy

Photo credit: Darren Bell

The Father - Review

Trafalgar Studios, London

****

Written by August Strindberg
In a new version by Laurie Slade
Directed by Abbey Wright

Alex Ferns

Few go to a Strindberg play looking for an harmonious depiction of the sexes and this co-production between Emily Dobbs' Jagged Fence and Making Productions, while sharp in its execution, won’t do much to radicalise expectations. 

Written in 1887 by the deeply embittered Swedish playwright, on the brink of marital separation and in a fashion that has triggered many autobiographical interpretations, The Father pitches husband and wife into a dark custody battle that predates paternity tests and equal rights. Laurie Slade’s modern adaptation – requested by his friend, theatre director Joe Harmston for a 2012 production – is driven more by collaborative forces than real-life drama, but it retains the original’s antagonistic bite.

Director Abbey Wright takes the reins for this intimate production with great success. While the Captain’s last-minute attempt to break the fourth wall doesn’t sit well with the play’s largely naturalistic style, Wright’s depiction of conflict – whether that be between husband and wife, mother and daughter, or father and child – is as stylish as it is evocative. As the warring characters face each other in mirror image, Wright clouds the dialogue’s clear oppositions with vivid visual similarities.

Thomas Coombes is a treat as Nöjd, the playful trooper who, if rumour is to believed, has impregnated a member of the Captain’s staff. While Nöjd is unable to deny a certain degree of intimacy, it is beyond his power to prove whether or not the baby is his. Coombes excels at lacing Nöjd’s crude, pastoral expression - “no guarantee that a night in the hay means a bun in the oven” - with a cheeky, modern charm, furnishing Slade’s notion that this is “a modern play, which happens to be set in the C.19th”.

What seems like idle gossip transforms into psychologically taut obsession as the play pulls towards its inevitable conclusion. Just as Nöjd doubts his lover’s fidelity, Alex Ferns’s dazzling Captain ploughs his own memories, as he questions whether young Bertha, who calls him ‘Papa', is actually his issue or was in fact conceived by wife Laura (excellent on-stage work from Dobbs) during a lovers' tryst. Ferns is vibrantly volatile and while other characters are equally paired in their disputes, he retains a chilling control over the tempo of the piece. 

While the relationship between the Captain and his wife provides the thrust of this narrative, and the Captain and his Doctor (Barnaby Sax) are splendidly matched as rivals, it is the tender and trusting affinity between Captain and Nurse (June Watson) that brings the strongest emotional clout: “rest your breast on my chin”, the Captain commands his attendant, as a redundant Laura looks on jealously. This gentle, strikingly maternal relationship is complemented by James Turner's set and Gary Bowman lighting, all stripped-back, monochrome as a Gothic aesthetic gradually melts into warmer reds.

Husband and wife may be “black and white...different species” but there’s a faith in relationships and the power of one gender to sooth and complement another. While this production doesn’t fall far from Strindberg’s tree, it’s a well-designed and interrogative take on an unfashionable play.

Runs until 11th April 2015

Guest reviewer: Amelia Forsbrook