BWW Reviews: AFTER MISS JULIE at Irish Classical Theatre

Seething Sexual Tension on a Cold Winter's Night

By Michael Rabice

A battle of the classes is playing out in The Irish Classical Theatre's brilliant new production of 'After Miss Julie,' that opened last night. Based on Strindberg's 1888 psycho-drama 'Miss Julie,' this version by Patrick Marber updates the action to a 1945 English Manor house on the eve of the British Labour Party's election victory. In a time when the world seems to be fascinated by all things 'Downton Abbey,' this production seems perfectly timed, especially in this rethought and updated version.

Miss Julie is the daughter of the Lord of an English estate, and her mental instabilities lead us through a 90 minute journey of class distinction, lust, and power play. The brilliant Kate LoConti embodies Julie as a bewitching and unstable minx of the priviledged upper class. She is infatuated with her father's chauffeur, John (played by Christopher Evans), and uses her social status to woo him.

We learn that the flirtatious Julie has been recently jilted and in an intoxicated stupor, is in hot pursuit of John. What unfolds is the back story that John secretly has been in love with her since she was a child, but due to his inferior class, a romance would seem ridiculous. The third piece in this puzzle is Christine ( Anne Roaldi Boucher), the maid and also John's fiancee-to-be.

LoConti immediately captures attention with her ever moving, flirtatious encounter with John, where she is the cat in heat in this cat and mouse adventure. Under the swift direction of Fortunato Pezzimenti, Julie's entrance scene seems to be elegantly choreographed, for all her turns, twists and gliding along furniture. Her command of the game reaches no bounds, as she entices John and tries to ensnare him, even at times while Christine is a sleep at her desk in the same room.

Evans, with his striking good looks and command of the stage, is easily up to the task of matching LoConti's intensity. The well paced and fast moving encounter between the two builds to such a sexual frenzy that you wondered whether we might actually see the sexual act unfold before us. Ultimately the two run to John's bedroom for what is to be Julie's true first sexual encounter and the loss of her virginity. Later we learn of her desire to be dominated, bordering on sadomasochism.

Miss Julie is a juicy role of which most actresses dream and LoConti gives a tour de force performance. She strikes the right balance of coyness and grandiosity, while letting the audience know that she has been damaged by a childhood plagued by her father's failed suicide attempt and a mother who appeared to hate men. Her emotional highs and lows, as well as narcissistic behavior make it clear that mental illness plagues her, and most likely, her parents too.

Pezzimenti paces the production beautifully, letting Miss Julie be at sometimes almost manic , without being truly melodramatic, and at others, quiet and contemplative. The sparring between Julie and John was appropriately tense and engaging.

Evans multi layered portrayal shows that beneath his learned English manners, he still is a common man in a potentially unhappy relationship with Christine. His desire for Julie may have been based on a lifetime love affair from afar, but under her spell, he is still a sexual being who lusts for our protagonist and is happy to fulfill her desires. During this sometimes depraved interplay, Evans briefly becomes the dominating force in this relationship, until Julie recoils and throws social class into the mix. Evans naiveté is as convincing as LoConti's superiority, and the sexual chemistry was palpable.

Roaldi Boucher is the perfect antithesis of Miss Julie, striking the right chord of lower class kitchen maid and a scorned Christian woman. She secretly witnesses the sexual act between the two , but even after the event she is shockingly accepting of John, albeit that she insists the two must immediately resign from their positions so they can continue their life elsewhere. The dichotomy between the two females makes John's choice all the more difficult. The final scene, which I will not reveal for those unfamiliar with the work, is somewhat left up for the audience to decide what may have happened.

The Andrews Theatre is reconfigured from a theatre in the round to a thrust stage, which works well in ensuring the audience doesn't miss any of the action or the actors nuanced facial expressions. It also serves to confine the action more in this psycho-drama. It was a treat to see a fully realized period kitchen set in the theatre's new configuration. Set designer David Dwyer creates many playing areas and effectively displays the drabness of the servants work area, while effective lighting by Brian Cavanagh and evocative minor key, dissonant music make the evening even more dark and ominous.

This well rehearsed piece by The Irish Classical Theatre is not to be missed . Those used to visiting The Shaw Festival for newly realized classic plays need venture no further than Buffalo's own theatre district to be mesmerized by this superior production.

Performances will take place at The Andrews Theatre, the home of the Irish Classical Theatre Company, 625 Main Street, Buffalo, Friday, February 27 through Sunday, March 22, 2015. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30PM with matinees on Saturday at 3PM and Sunday at 2PM.

Single tickets are $39 each. Student tickets, with a valid student ID, are $15 each. On Sundays, tickets for seniors are just $35 each.

More information, subscription packages and single tickets are available:

By Phone: (716) 853-ICTC (4282)

Online 24/7: www.irishclassicaltheatre.com

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