“The Push and Pull…Has Genuine Danger”
Miss Julie is officially open! August Strindberg’s masterpiece has been produced around the world every year since its premiere in the late 1800s, and, in that time, it has consistently challenged critics and audiences alike.
Banned in Sweden, Denmark, and Berlin upon its premiere and censored in Great Britain for decades, Strindberg’s foundational work was considered scandalous, salacious, and too critical of class structures. It is known for courting (or should we say, “Court”-ing) controversy and has kept audiences on their toes for centuries.
Don’t miss your chance to view the latest addition to a long and storied legacy. Check out the reviews below, and get tickets before the production closes on Sunday, March 8.
“There is nothing like a scorching psychosexual bad romance to warm the dregs of a midwestern winter. August Strindberg’s Miss Julie checks all those boxes…[Gabrielle] Randle-Bent brings it to the Hyde Park theater with unsettling immediacy. The cast creates a world of discord, tension and volatility as an aristocrat is pitted against a valet in a struggle for power, control, love and self-determination…Randle-Bent directs her ensemble with blistering impact.”
— Chicago Sun-Times, ★★★1/2 (of four)
“Whoever made the deliciously twisted decision to host the press opening for this dark antiromantic play on Valentine’s Day has my congratulations…this tense three-character one-act unfolds in what feels like a cross between a terrarium and a cage…never boring”
— Chicago Reader, Reader Recommended
“From the moment the audience enters the theatre, Associate Artistic Director Gabrielle Randle-Bent’s production of a script, translated by Harry G. Carlson, grabs the theatergoer by the throat and never lets go…Gabrielle Randle-Bent has a dream cast, with whom she tells Strindberg’s story of arrogance and aspiration…Court Theatre is known for its superior productions of the classics. Gabrielle Randle-Bent has added Miss Julie to an ever-growing roster of fine presentations.”
“Harry G. Carlson’s translation of Miss Julie does more than hold up at Court Theatre. You’ll be entertained, but that is hardly the point. The actors and creative team make this undertaking look effortless, doing all the requisite work to ensure that the 130-year-old play lands squarely in your lap, offering you a chance to think critically about the themes that are as relevant today as they were at the end of the 19th century.”
“Watching these actors at work is the main pleasure of Miss Julie…There are beautiful, impressive staging aesthetics, as to be expected at Court Theatre”
“Mi Kang’s Miss Julie is volatile and wounded, her aristocratic arrogance masking a desperate hunger for annihilation. She plays Julie not as a naïve romantic but as a woman testing the edges of her own destruction. Kelvin Roston Jr.’s Jean is taut with ambition. His Jean calculates even while seducing; every flirtation carries the weight of social ascent. The push and pull between Kang and Roston Jr. has genuine danger, their exchanges tightening like wire…the production lingers. Like the final discordant notes of its score, it vibrates with unease long after the cage goes dark.”
“Opening night was Valentine’s Day, because nothing says romance so much as a twisted, psychosexual drama about a doomed kitchen assignation between a hyped-up Swedish noblewoman and her scheming manservant.”
— Chicago Tribune, Chris Jones
“The talented actors Mi Kang as Julie, Kelvin Roston Jr. as Jean, and Rebecca Spence as Kristine give exceptional performances”
— Let’s Play Theatrical Reviews
“The performances by Mi Kang, Kelvin Roston Jr., and Rebecca Spence grounded the production, bringing these complex characters to life”
“Top notch performances of all three actors”
“Visually impressive and the cast offers strong performances”
“The set looks gorgeous, especially with Keith Parham’s sensuous lighting”