Rebecca Frecknall makes her Internationaal Theater Amsterdam debut with Julie, her placing tackle Strindberg
“Een meisje zijn is een nachtmerrie op zich”
Strindberg’s Miss Julie has lengthy proved a standardselection for adaptation as a lot as efficiency and so it continues as Rebecca Frecknall turns to the Norwegian playwright’s 1888 drama to encourage her debut manufacturing for Internationaal Theater Amsterdam. She acts as each adaptor and director on on the Dutch-language Julie, made accessible to Engelse volk by English surtitles at a few performances throughout the run.
Like Polly Stenham, Frecknall relocates her manufacturing to a up to date setting, completely captured within the design of Chloe Lamford’s showroom-perfect brushed-steel kitchen. It’s there that Julie seeks escape, from her twenty first celebration within the first occasion but additionally from from the strictures of her life because the daughter of a really wealthy man. It’s also there that she finds the seductive determine of John, her father’s driver, but additionally Christine, the housekeeper and John’s spouse.
Want crackles by the air, sexual sure but additionally one thing extra elemental too. Eefe Paddenburg’s Julie in her glittering gown is the twisted coronary heart, annoyed and irritating as she writhes in opposition to the shortage of company she has in her personal life however wields what energy she does have over these of decrease social standing. As she edges John to the precipice, drawn to his personal rebellious streak, there’s no doubting the cruelty of damage folks hurting folks.
Minne Koole and Hannah Hoekstra convey earthiness to newlyweds John and Christine, painfully conscious that society will hold them of their place, regardless of their goals. Drawn to the shiny object that Julie seems to be, John can’t assist however be led by his dick whereas Christine digs deep to stay resolute within the face of such indignities. Above all, the sense of loneliness that pervades this family is what shines by.
Frecknall’s predilection for reinventing a traditional (Cabaret, A Streetcar Named Want, Summer time and Smoke) thus continues apace however on this case, I’m undecided it’s completely revelatory in the long run. Maybe it’s the familiarity with the fabric, maybe it’s the growing familiarity along with her strategy, in any case her work stays completely watchable. And within the last moments, with a very beautiful mise-en-scène, you keep in mind simply what all of the fuss is about.
Operating time: 1 hour 50 minutes (with out interval) Photograph: Fabian Calis Julie is reserving in Amsterdam till tenth March
