Polly Stenham has updated August Strindberg’s 1888 play Miss Julie to contemporary London. Why? Well, it would be foolish to think that this new version is modern only because of its language, setting and clothes.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Julie at the National Theatre
Carrie Cracknell directs Polly Stenham’s contemporary adaptation of August Strindberg’s classic play Miss Julie. But what have critics been making of it?
‘An evening of thought-provoking theatre’: JULIE – National Theatre ★★★
Julie may well be far from a definitive interpretation of Strindberg’s classic, but nonetheless makes for an evening of thought-provoking theatre.
‘Anchored by mesmerising performances’: JULIE – National Theatre
An elegant and occasionally startling adaptation, Julie at the National Theatre is anchored by mesmerising performances from Vanessa Kirby and Thalissa Teixeira.
‘There is nothing meaningful at stake’: JULIE – National Theatre
Sigh. Ok, this is going to hurt because I’m such a supporter of women creatives and want to fight for more opportunities for them but Julie is awful.
‘It is hard to see why Stenham would need to borrow the classic’: JULIE – National Theatre ★★★
Polly Stenham joins the endless line of adaptors and updaters of August Strindberg’s toughly nasty, misogynistic Miss Julie: a play soaked in such fin-de-siecle Nordic hopelessness that it makes Ibsen look like PG Wodehouse.
‘Bears the marks of slightly unsatisfactory imitation’: JULIE – National Theatre
While Polly Stenham retains plenty of Strindberg’s purpose, Julie doesn’t go quite far enough in remoulding the political and psychological shape of its characters for the 21st century.
#NTNews: Ralph Fiennes, Sophie Okonedo, Colin Morgan join National’s 2018 South Bank programme
National Theatre artistic director Rufus Norris announced the flagship institution’s 2018 plans at a press conference held today. Here are details of programming in the three auditoria at the NT’s South Bank home.