Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork
The production by London Classic Theatre of Patrick Marber's After Miss Julieprompts the question: what was wrong with Strindberg's original Miss Julie that Marber felt he had to improve on it by bringing it more up-to-date?
Such thoughts, and many others, such as whether or not there were combination taps in the aristocratic English kitchens of 1945, or why everyone is snatching at cigarettes and then stubbing them out after just a couple of unconvincing puffs, or how is it that the master’s shoes fit the servant’s feet physically as well as metaphorically – such thoughts as these relieve the tedium of Michael Cabot’s direction.
It has to be said that all three members of the cast do their best; Marber is a writer of skill and his style might seem suited to the clash of class and sex and social change which Strindberg took as his challenging theme in 1888.
By re-locating the upstairs-downstairs drama to Labour’s election victory in 1945, however, Marber alters the motivation as well as the environment; a dangerous decision in any approach to someone else’s work and particularly unsuccessful here.
The well-born Miss Julie (Kathryn Ritchie’s strident tones strip her of allure or subtlety) is a psychological disaster, enduring the estate workers’ celebration of the Labour Party’s success by trying a little equality of her own through the sexual enticement of her father’s chauffeur (Andy Dowbiggin).
When he responds, to the disgusted dismay of his own fiancee, Miss Julie is caught between satisfaction, fantasy and repulsion.
While the forceful dialogue reflects both Strindberg and Marber, this transition from one century to another suggests that Marber has mistaken or misunderstood his chosen era.
Designer Kerry Bradley’s kitchen (Oh, that tap! Oh, that sink with its deposits of vomit, beer and dead bird! Oh that portentous bell-board!) is a busy place even when there’s no-one in it and Peter Foster’s lighting has one lovely moment of daybreak. But that’s about it, really.
– Runs until Saturday, then tours UK
