Bilingual Version of MISS JULIE to Open Next Month at La MaMa

A bi-lingual (English and Spanish) adaptation of August Strindberg's classic, "Miss Julie," titled "Miss Julia," will have its New York Premiere this coming June 8th at the famed La MaMa Experimental Theatre on the Lower East Side. The production is Presented by La MaMa and is a production of Vueltas Bravas Producciones/Mitchell Productions, Inc.

"Miss Julia" was adapted by Siti Company's J.Ed Araiza, and brings together 7 artists from 4 different countries, and represents an international collaboration between renowned Colombian film and television actor Jhon Alex Toro, Australian theatre artist Tina Mitchell and Colombian actress Gina Jaimes. Music is by US violinist Helen Yee and percussionist Martin Vejarano, and is directed by Italian Stage Director Lorenzo Montanini.

The adaptation is set in rural Colombia on Midsummer Eve as Miss Julia and her servant Juan have a forbidden encounter. As Juan tries to rise from his servile life, Miss Julia tries to escape the bonds of her meaningless upper-class existence.The resulting power play of love, lust and class struggle becomes a dangerous battle that veers violently out of control. This bilingual production is a clash of cultures, a dance of death combining powerful physicality, naturalistic text and live music making Strindberg's text as relevant today as it was 100 years ago.

The production will feature costumes by AiDan Martinez, lighting design by Mike Ralston, set and graphic design by Andrew Thurman, assistant director is Agustin Scuoteguazza, and producing assistant is Terence MacSweeny.

"Our version of Miss Julia," says Ms. Michell, "is bilingual reimagining of Strindberg's classic play that looks at the power relationships between The United States and Latin America and between men and women. It is a dance of death that fuses bilingual text, movement and live music, that becomes violent and veers out of control.

In addition to the work being bi-lingual, Ms. Mitchell says, "We have also created a third performance language which is the language of movement. The physical interpretation is very stylized, with every movement and gesture specifically choreographed. The movement palette was created through an exploration of each character's own unique gestural language. We began the process by choreographing the movement and then layered the text on top. We wanted to create a readable movement language that portrays meaning just as much as the words spoken. The other unique element of the piece is the live musical landscape that is composed and performed by Helen Yee. Her music evokes certain moods and underlying feelings and she works directly from the action that is being played out before her. Her music isn't specifically composed but changes slightly each performance depending on what is happening onstage."

"MISS JULIA" will open June 8th and run until June 25th at La MaMa, First Floor Theatre, 74A East 4th St, New York NY 10003. The show runs Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 2:00pm. Tickets for MISS JULIA are $25 for adults, $20 for students and seniors with ten tickets priced at $10 each available for every performance, in advance only. Tickets are available online at: www.lamama.org or by calling OvationTix at 212-352-3101.

La MaMa's 55th season celebrates the creative and collective histories of La MaMa's local and global communities. Since its beginning, La MaMa has forged creative partnerships with artists based in different parts of the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. In recent years, these long-term relationships have taken on new life through distance collaborations over the Internet. The 55th season embraces new pathways forged in performance and technology to connect the myriad experiences, politics, conflicts, aesthetics, intimacies and dreams of people and communities participating in an increasingly globalized world.

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