MISS JULIE at the Aurora Theatre

Lauren Grace and Mark Anderson Phillips in Aurora Theatre Company's production of Miss Julie Photo by David Allen

MISS JULIE by August Strindberg, directed by Mark Jackson from a version by Helen Cooper, with Lauren Grace, Mark Anderson Phillips and Beth Deitchman. Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA. 510-843-4822 or www.auroratheatre.org. Through May 10, 2009.

MARK JACKSON PUTS HIS STAMP ON STRINDBERG’S MISS JULIE AT THE AURORA

Selecting Mark Jackson, San Francisco Bay Area’s Golden Boy, to direct August Strindberg’s naturalistic drama Miss Julie was a bold move by Artistic Director Tom Ross. He is a perfect fit for Helen Cooper’s earthy translation of Strindberg’s 1880s misogynistic play that set standards for future writers. Jackson has a distinctive self-conscious style utilizing in-your-face physicality and excessive banging of furniture. He attempts to emulate Pinter who is a master at writing pauses into his dialog. Where Pinter was successful, Jackson’s use of the pregnant pause becomes interminable. He has put his stamp on this production with questionable success.

The action takes place in the kitchen on the estate of a never seen Swedish Count whose powerful influence is pervasive and oppressive symbolized by his boots always being on stage. Cook Christine and Jean, valet to the Count, are discussing the erratic nature of Miss Julie, the Count’s daughter. She is cavorting shamelessly with the Games Keeper during their Midsummer Eve celebration. Julie enters the kitchen to entice Jean to dance with her. There is an agonizing pas de deux where Julie humiliates Jean by playing the master to his servant, forcing him to kiss her shoe. The relationship gradually changes as the well-read and well-traveled Jean insidiously gains the upper hand but still remains a member of the servant class even though he insists “I wasn’t born to grovel.” Julie decries the fact that she is “half man and half woman” because her feminist mother instilled in her the equality of the sexes. Julie’s former fiancée has jilted her after he refused her demand to jump over a riding whip.

Julie’s recurring dream involves being on a pedestal, desiring to fall becoming one of the common people. Jean’s dream is the direct opposite as he attempts to climb higher to reach the level of the ruling class. Jean’s subservience is amplified when he violently polishes the Count’s boots and is in fear of the front door bell indicating the return of his master, the Count. Julie’s flirtation/seduction leads to a violent assignation that she deems as love but he considers want.

Strindberg entwines psychology and symbolism with his take on women’s role in society, class distinction and interpersonal relationships. The fact that Julie has “degraded” herself makes it imperative that she leave the estate. Jean’s persuasive guile encourages her to steal her father’s money, ostensibly to run off to idyllic Lake Como and set up a hotel. This comes to a crashing halt when truth will out and Julie wishes to bring her pet bird along: “It is the only creature I have loved.” She would rather kill the bird than turn it over to another. Angry Jean cuts off its head intimating that another solution for her was to commit suicide.

Religious Christine who is Jean’s bedmate and possible future wife, attempts to win him back by taking him off to church. She threatens to tell all, forbidding them to take any of the horses and admonishes Julie “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter kingdom of heaven.” Jean’s bravado vanishes and he reverts to the servile role when the bell sounds indicating the return of the count. Typical of Jackson’s directorial style, Julie cuts her throat on stage rather than do the deed off stage. It is very dramatic.

The performances of Mark Anderson Phillips and Lauren Grace brilliantly create the tension Jackson desires sharing blame for their actions. Beth Deitchman blossoms in her final scene with her religious diatribe as she stalks off to church. Guilo Cesare Perrone’s set is a perfect replica of an 1890s kitchen with effective lights cues by Heather Basarab. David A. Graves original music and sound design are superb.

Running time 85 minutes without intermission.

Kedar K. Adour

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com