DRAMATIC BUT RUSHED

By Trisha Cusack ⭐⭐⭐ | Press Invite

What is the difference between love and lust? And who truly holds the power in a relationship? These are some of the questions attempted to be answered in Dadiow Lin’s revival of the Patrick Marber play, After Miss Julie.

We find ourselves in 1945 in the kitchen belonging to the staff of a Labour peer, on the night of Churchill’s defeat to Clement Attlee. In the sparsely decorated set, we meet Christine (Charlene Boyd), the sweet, kind-hearted cook and John (Tom Varey), the chauffeur and Christine’s apparent soon to be betrothed. John is full of chatter about the goings ons outside where people are celebrating the Labour victory, including the titular Miss Julie, their boss’s daughter. While John initially appears to be an honest, if cheeky, man who is trying to improve his position in life, it is clear that there is more to the story.

Enter Miss Julie, played by Liz Francis in her debut leading role on a main London stage. She is charming, dominating, and clearly relishes in the power she has over her staff, especially John. From here, the drama commences. As soon as Christine goes to bed, John and Julie begin a cat and mouse game, with John eventually confessing his long-standing love for Julie. This goes on for a bit until they give into their passion and take to John’s room.

While you initially would think the rest of the show would be the fallout of the affair, the audience is swiftly corrected. Almost as quickly as the passion emerged the night before, in the cold light of day, it is extinguished. This is mostly by John once he realises Julie has no money of her own for them to run away. The emotional whiplash between them is confusing. Are they fighting because they’re in love but can’t be together? Or is it all a power play by John who’s resentful of Julie’s higher position? Due to the play’s short run time of 70 minutes, this unfortunately is never fully fleshed out.

The rest of the play maintains this rushed pacing. Rather than fiery displays of violence and passion, John and Julie’s confrontations are somewhat muted, failing to reach a crescendo. The play, despite strong performances by the cast, would have benefitted from more time to give more depth to the story. As it is, it doesn’t deliver the devastating impact it deserves.

After Miss Julie is running at Park Theatre until Saturday 28 February.

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Photo Credit: Teddy Cavendish