Lady Julia

Synopsis

Transports this tale of seduction and power to a country estate in Kent tinged by a fragile economy, on New Years Eve 2008; whilst continuing to honour the words and the traditions of this classic drama. As the clock strikes to welcome in 2009, Lady Julia gatecrashes her father's servants celebrations. Keen on making trouble and asserting her power, sexual, confident and naive Julia finds she's playing a dangerous game as she takes on John, an embittered servant with ambitions of greatness. In a fragile time where the balance of money, power and status is tipped precariously, can he break from his path, and can Julia survive with her reputation and feelings of self importance intact?

Our Review:

4 December 2009

The bare bones of a kitchen dress the black box stage at the Hen and Chickens, and it is only the bare bones of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie that have survived James and Ben Kenward’s bland translation. Awkwardly mixing the modern vernacular with an overblown poetic structure, this version never feels comfortable in its own high-heeled shoes. Director Gabriella Santinelli’s loose production is empty of any atmosphere or tension, turning this into nothing more than a tedious and chaotic tiff between the sexes.

The action has moved from a Midsummer’s Eve to a New Year’s one and a Miss has become a Lady as the daughter of the ruling Earl, Julia, dances the night away with her servants. John, a proud and eloquent footman has caught her eye and as the night progresses they battle each other in a fiery duet that is meant to be a struggle of sexuality, class and, above all, power, resulting in Julia’s tragic suicide. <...

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