One Lonely Goat Presents: After Miss Julie

One Lonely Goat Presents
After Miss Julie
By Patrick Marber
Directed by Cameron Rhodes
Starring Erroll Shand, Jodie Hillock and Dena Kennedy

"CLOSER" TO STRINDBERG THAN YOU MIGHT EXPECT

A psychological thriller of three deeply flawed characters enmeshed in a web of conflicts shifting the upper hand from one to the other, in a high-voltage battle of the sex and class. August Strindberg, by way of British playwright Patrick Marber (Closer), is brought to Auckland’s Basement Theatre from August 27, as After Miss Julie makes its New Zealand premier.
"AN UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT OF WHITE-HOT THEATRICAL INTENSITY" 
- The Telegraph

Originally conceived in 1888 by Swedish playwright August Strindberg, Miss Julie’s themes of class, love, lust, the battle of the sexes and the interaction among them, all resonate with British playwright Patrick Marber – the creator of modern classic Closer (which itself spawned the acclaimed movie of the same name, starring Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Jude Law and Natalie Portman).

Marber’s quintessential Englishness however re-imagined the work in a Country House in England instead of an estate in Sweden; it’s date – the historic 1945 landslide victory of the working class Labour Party over the Churchill led Conservative Party. Serving as a symbolically loaded substitute for the original work’s eve of Midsummer, Marber manages to strip the Strindberg’s text from much of its long monologues and instead focuses on its immediate story; an impulsive decision between two people that has the worst possible consequences for all involved.

After Miss Julie debuted on BBC Two in 1995 as part of its Performance season, starring Kathy Burke, Phil Daniels and Geraldine Somerville. Eight years later it made its stage premiere at the Donmar Warehouse, garnering rave reviews from The Guardian and The Telegraph.
Veteran actor and director Cameron Rhodes leads this premiere season, with Erroll Shand (Harry, Underbelly) taking to the stage as John, the swaggering chauffeur of a country estate.

Shand is joined by the incredible Jodie Hillock (Tribes, Educating Rita) as Miss Julie, the ruthless, self-destructive daughter of the house who decides to command John’s attentions. Dena Kennedy (The Pride, Yours Truly) perfectly completes the line-up as John’s prudent, not-quite-fiancée, Christine. These deeply flawed characters are as fascinating today as they were when Strindberg first created them.
“...COMPULSIVELY WATCHABLE REVIVAL OF MARBER’S TAKE ON STRINDBERG.”
- The Guardian

www.basementtheatre.co.nz

AFTER MISS JULIE plays
August 27 – September 7
The Basement Theatre Studio
Tickets $22-$28 (booking fees may apply) www.iticket.co.nz

ENDS

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