Adaptation by Laura Lomas
Directed by Holly Race Roughan
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August Strindberg wrote Miss Julie as a naturalistic play in 1888. This classic upstairs/downstairs drama explored themes of class, privilege and aspiration and has been subsequently adapted for stage and screen many times. Almost 150 years on Laura Lomas reimagines the play as The House Party where a group of teenagers gather for a hastily arranged 18th birthday party that unfolds as part wild rave, part a night of heady secrets revealed and part kitchen sink drama…albeit in a very fancy kitchen.
This production sees Artistic Director of Headlong, Holly Race Roughan take the reins in a collaboration with Frantic Assembly. The result is a vibrant, pacey deep delve into youth culture observing what can build strong bonds for teenagers or splinter apart these often fragile relationships. The coupling of these two high calibre theatre companies is a much more successful enterprise than anything achieved by the messy ménage à trois of Julie, Christine and Jon. This production looks great with a clever and sophisticated set design by Loren Elstein and highly impactful lighting by Joshua Pharo and Joseph Hornsby. The riotous party scenes that puncuate the production are beautifully executed by Movement Director Scott Graham from Frantic Assembly. This drives the narrative by both ramping up the tension and vividly illuminating the joy and sense of belonging found on the dance floor.
Image credit: Ikin Yum.
In this production the three main protagonists are reimagined as Generation Z teenagers who connect over shots and selfies and wield their power through sex and revenge porn. Julie is pretty and privileged and Synnøve Karlsen imbues her with a chameleon quality that allows her to flit between winsome and charming or caustic and loathsome. Weaponising her pain in shocking ways, her capacity to destroy those she loves and sabotage her own happiness is quite the thing to observe. Sesley Hope as Christine is an excellent foil as the best friend from a working class background. Whereas Julie appears quite unhinged by her past trauma, Christine is grounded and much more robust despite her own challenging family background. Tom Lewis is Jon who professes love for Christine but once harboured desire for Julie watching her grow up. He deeply resents her hold on Christine and how he went unnoticed as the son of the family cleaner.
Three teenagers with hopes and aspirations are all equally trapped in their own harmful patterns. Julie only knows how to get attention through destructive behaviours, Christine sabotages her chance to go to Cambridge University and Jon aspires to be a perfect boyfriend yet for all his genuine care he displays callous and misogynistic qualities. All the performers in lead roles give strong and convincing performances though Lomas definitely seems more at home writing authentic female characters.
This punchy drama aims high and is a searing insight into the impact of fast paced, digital culture where lives can be destroyed by simply pressing Send or Share and sentiments are reduced to vacuous soundbites. Unlike the original Miss Julie, this adaptation has a coda which takes place ten years on from the shocking events of the party. I’m unsure how necessary or indeed successful this is as the huge digital clock races forward in time to reveal what happens in the aftermath. As a dramatic device it may have been more effective used as an opener to the production then rewinding back to the party and its explosive sequences.
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