''After Miss Julie'' is a 1995 play by

Patrick Marber Patrick Albert Crispin Marber (born 19 September 1964) is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor, and screenwriter. Early life Marber was born and raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Wimbledon, London, the son of Angela (Benj ...

which relocates

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

's naturalist tragedy, ''

Miss Julie ''Miss Julie'' ( sv, Fröken Julie) is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg. It is set on Midsummer's Eve and the following morning, which is Midsummer and the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist. The setting is an estate of ...

'' (1888), to an

English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

in July 1945. The re-imagining of the events of Strindberg's original are transposed to the night of the British Labour Party's " landslide" election victory.

Plot and characters

There are only three characters in ''After Miss Julie''; Miss Julie, a rich lady in her 20s, and two servants: John, a valet/chauffeur, aged 30, and Christine, a cook, aged 35. The action takes place in the kitchen of a large country house outside London, when the British Labour Party have just won their famous 'landslide' election victory.

Production history

Screen

''After Miss Julie'', written and directed by

, was screened by

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

on 4 November 1995 as part of the ''

Performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

'' series. Miss Julie was played by

Geraldine Somerville Geraldine Margaret Agnew-Somerville (born 19 May 1967) is an Irish actress. She is known for her roles in the film '' Gosford Park'' (2001) and the ''Harry Potter'' film series (2001–2011). Her other roles have included '' My Week with Mari ...

, John was played by

Phil Daniels Philip William Daniels (born 25 October 1958) is an English actor, musician and singer, most noted for film and television roles playing Londoners, such as the lead role of Jimmy Cooper in ''Quadrophenia'', Richards in '' Scum'', Stewart in '' T ...

and Christine was played by

Kathy Burke Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. She achieved fame with her appearances on sketch shows such as ''French and Saunders'' (1988–1999) and her recurring role as Mag ...

Stage

The stage premiere was at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Mi ...

in London on 20 November 2003; its run ended on 7 February 2004. The three characters were played by

Kelly Reilly Jessica Kelly Siobhán Reilly (born 18 July 1977) is an English actress. She first appeared on screen in 1995 on the series '' The Biz''. Her other television work includes starring roles in the British crime drama '' Above Suspicion'' (2009– ...

(Miss Julie),

Richard Coyle Richard Coyle is an English actor. He portrayed lead role of Father Faustus Blackwood in Netflix series '' Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'', and Jeff Murdock in the sitcom ''Coupling''. Early and personal life Coyle was born in Sheffield, En ...

(John) and

Helen Baxendale Helen Victoria Baxendale (born 7 June 1970) is an English actress of stage and television, known for her roles as Rachel Bradley in the British comedy drama ''Cold Feet'' (1997–2003), and Emily Waltham in the American sitcom ''Friends'' (199 ...

(Christine). The production was directed by

Michael Grandage Michael Grandage CBE (born 2 May 1962) is a British theatre director and producer. He is currently Artistic Director of the Michael Grandage Company. From 2002 to 2012 he was Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse in London and from 2000 ...

. It received generally very positive reviews,

particularly praised for her performance. ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' said it was "an unforgettable night of white-hot theatrical intensity" and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' gave it 4 out of 5 stars. The

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 201 ...

revived ''After Miss Julie'' in March 2012 as its first production of Classics for A New Climate. It was directed by

Natalie Abrahami Natalie Abrahami is a British theatre, film and opera director. She was Associate Director and Genesis Fellow at the Young Vic in London 2013-16 and Associate Artist at Hull Truck Theatre. From 2007–12 she was joint Artistic Director of the Ga ...

Natalie Dormer Natalie Dormer (born 11 February 1982)Kieran Bew Kieran Bew (born 18 August 1980) is an English actor, known for portraying Alfonso, Duke of Calabria in '' Da Vinci's Demons'' for Starz, '' Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale'' for Hallmark Entertainment and Gary Parr in Jimmy ...

John, and Polly Frame Christine. The production was sold-out with Natalie Dormer receiving particularly high praise. Sarah Hemming of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' gave it 4 out of 5 stars as did

Lyn Gardner Lyn Gardner is a British theatre critic, children's writer and journalist who contributes reviews and articles to ''The Stage,'' '' Stagedoor'' and has written for ''The Guardian''. Theatre critic and educator A graduate in drama and English from ...

in ''The Guardian'' calling it 'Natalie Abrahami's compulsively watchable revival'

Gothenburg English Studio Theatre Gothenburg English Studio Theatre (GEST) is a professional English-speaking theatre in western Sweden, and currently the only one of its kind in that region. The theatre produces contemporary English speaking theatre, mostly with actors and direct ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

made a production of ''After Miss Julie'' during the spring of 2006. It was directed by Naomi Jones and portrayed by Emma Parsons (Christine), Gary Whitaker (John) and Kristina Brändén Whitaker (Miss Julie). The Regional Premiere was at the Theatre By The Lake in Keswick on Friday, 28 July 2006. Its run ended on 1 November 2006. The characters were played by Juliette Goodman (Miss Julie), Guy Parry (John) and Polly Lister (Christine). It was directed by Simon H West. The production was praised for its impact, acting and sexual charge. ''Salisbury Playhouse'' produce a production of ''After Miss Julie'' from 1–24 October 2009, directed by Tom Daley.

Broadway

The Roundabout Theatre Company produced the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

premiere on 22 October 2009 at the

American Airlines Theatre The American Airlines Theatre, originally the Selwyn Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 227 West 42nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Built in 1918, it was designed by George Keister and developed by br ...

to mixed reviews. It starred

Sienna Miller Sienna Rosie Diana Miller (born December 28, 1981) is an American-British actress. Born in New York City and raised in London, she began her career as a photography model, appearing in the pages of Italian ''Vogue'' and for the 2003 Pirelli ca ...

(Miss Julie),

Jonny Lee Miller Jonathan Lee Miller (born 15 November 1972) is a British film, television and theatre actor. He achieved early success for his portrayal of Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson in the dark comedy-drama film '' Trainspotting'' (1996) and as Dade Murphy i ...

(John) and Marin Ireland (Christine), and was directed by

Mark Brokaw Mark Brokaw is an American theatre director. He won the Drama Desk Award, Obie Award and Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Director of a Play for '' How I Learned to Drive''. Life and career Brokaw was raised in Aledo, Illinois, and graduated f ...

References

External links

* * *
Donmar Warehouse ''After Miss Julie'' Page
* *

* * * * {{August Strindberg Fiction set in 1945 1995 plays Works based on Miss Julie Plays based on other plays Plays by Patrick Marber Plays set in England