Having seen Creditors in the matinee performance it was very exciting to return to the Jermyn Theatre to see a second Strindberg adaption by Howard Brenton, directed by Tom Littler in repertory until 1st June. In Miss Julie, James Sheldon returns this time as Jean and Dorothea Myer-Bennett as Kristin having just played in an excellent staging of Creditors. Could they repeat and sustain their performances in this different play from the same period, originally written in 1888?
The first thing you notice is that the white panels of Creditors have been stripped away to transform the space to the period kitchen of the Earl's Manor while the Earl is away. The brilliant practical set by Louie Whitemore with working hob and running water provides a realistic setting for this downstairs drama when the domesticity and simple life of the cook, Kristin and the Valet, Jean is thrown into chaos by the arrival of aristocratic Miss Julie from upstairs.
