Jermyn Street Theatre Presents CREDITORS and MISS JULIE

In the summer of 1888, bankrupt and at his wits' end, August Strindberg and his family rented rooms in a ruinous Danish castle called Skovlyst. The castle was also occupied by a young aristocratic woman, her corrupt steward, and a menagerie of exotic animals. That summer, Strindberg wrote two masterpieces of world theatre: his intense tragedy Miss Julie and dark comedy Creditors, the play he regarded as his finest.

Miss Julie takes place on Midsummer's Eve. A night when the sun doesn't set. When Julie finds herself alone on her father's estate, she gate-crashes the servants' party. In the sultry heat of that long, light night, she finds herself in a dangerous tryst with her father's man servant, Jean. A flirtatious game descends into a savage fight for survival.

Creditors tells the story of Adolph, a young artist who is deeply in love with his new wife Tekla. She is intelligent, educated, and experienced. He loves her independence and sophistication. Sometimes he worries he is not her equal. But a chance meeting with a suave stranger in a seaside hotel shakes Adolph's devotion to the core.

This spring, Miss Julie and Creditors will run in repertory together at Jermyn Street Theatre, following an initial run at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick. Miss Julie is a revival of Tom Littler's acclaimed 2017 production, and Creditors is the world premiere of Howard Brenton's new version. Besides Miss Julie, Brenton and Littler have previously collaborated on Strindberg's Dances of Death (Gate Theatre, 2013), and on Brenton's play about Strindberg's Inferno period, The Blinding Light (Jermyn Street Theatre, 2017).

Charlotte Hamblin (Downton Abbey, Dry Land Jermyn Street Theatre) will revive her OffWestEnd nominated performance in the title role of Miss Julie. Dorothea Myer-Bennett (Rosenbaum's Rescue Park Theatre, The Lottery of Love Orange Tree Theatre, The Winslow Boy Chichester Festival Theatre) plays Kristin in Miss Julie and Tekla in Creditors. James Sheldon (Eigengrau King's Head Theatre, The Dover Road Jermyn Street Theatre) returns to his OffWestEnd nominated performance as Jean in Miss Julie and takes the role of Adolph in Creditors. David Sturzaker, a regular performer at the RSC and Shakespeare's Globe, has previously played the leading roles of Henry VIII, Abelard, and Byron in Brenton's work, and will play Gustav in Creditors.

SUPERLATIVE AN UNEXPECTED TREAT OF THE HIGHEST ORDER. The Evening Standard (20 Best Productions of 2017) on Miss Julie

THE TENSION STARTS TO BUILD FROM THE FIRST SIZZLE IN THE PAN. The Times on Miss Julie

August Strindberg is ranked alongside Chekhov and Ibsen as one of the great turn-of-the-century dramatists. Howard Brenton is a multi award-winning playwright whose plays have recently appeared at the National Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, and Shakespeare's Globe. Tom Littler is Artistic Director of Jermyn Street Theatre.

Jermyn Street Theatre's PORTRAIT SEASON, which runs from January to July 2019, also includes the stage premiere of Rose Heiney's Original Death Rabbit (9 January to 9 February), Trevor Nunn's world premiere production of Harley Granville Barker's Agnes Colander: An Attempt at Life, revised by Richard Nelson (12 February to 16 March), Mary's Babies by Maud Dromgoole (20 March to 13 April) and Pictures Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde in an adaptation by Lucy Shaw (5 June to 6 July).

Jermyn Street Theatre is celebrating its 25th birthday as an independent theatre in the heart of the West End. It has won numerous awards and transferred many productions to the West End and Broadway. Its co-Founders, Penny Horner and Howard Jameson, serve as Executive Director and Chair of the Board respectively. Two years ago, new Artistic Director Tom Littler relaunched the theatre as a producing house. Jermyn Street Theatre is a signatory to the Equity Fringe Agreement and is committed to equal gender representation.

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