Julie, National Theatre review ★★★★★

In this highly anticipated adaptation of Miss Julie, Polly Steinheim reimagines August Strindberg’s 19th century classic for 2018. Set in a North London house bordering on Hampstead Heath, Julie at the National Theatre examines how class divisions and middle class ennui exist today and can result in similar tragic results. The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby stars as the title character with Eric Kofi Abrefa as Jean, in what is a finessed, slick, and well-acted production, but that isn’t entirely gripping.

Kirby’s Julie celebrates her 33rd Birthday in hedonistic style, with lines of coke and excessive alcohol amidst the dull drone of endless bass.. In the sleek and minimalist kitchen downstage, the maid Kristina (Thalissa Teixeira) cleans up as her fiance, Abrefa’s Jean, dances with Julie while he waits to pick up her business tycoon of a father from a merger. Director Carrie Cracknell nicely draws out dance sequences from partygoers to create an ambience of heightened anticipation, a search for ecstacy laced with a sense of foreboding tragedy (which here runs parallel to the rising sun).

In this charged evening, Kirby’s Julie and Abrefa’s Jean push and pull with both passion and disdain. Kirby’s performance isn’t so far removed from her Princess Margaret, a privileged woman whose family history is riddled with sorrow and who suffers from a sense of restlessness. Yet she offers up a childish helplessness that is underpinned by a deep traumatic experience relating to her mother’s death. Abrefa is striking as Jean, naive yet endearing, with a hint of sharp opportunism to him.

But despite the heated exchange, the overall atmosphere is slightly dulled. Julie’s existentialism is both ridiculed and taken seriously, but in a modern context, she becomes a hard character to empathise with. And in Steinham’s adaptation, it remains unclear why her relationship with John and betrayal of Kristina leads, on this particular evening, to her downfall. It seems that this could be any other party experience Kirby’s Julie might have.

Yet with strong performances and glossy design, it’s hard not to enjoy this take on Strindberg’s classic. Perhaps what’s best in Steinham’s update is how class distinctions are dealt with in a modern day context. Julie’s relationship with Kristina is amicable and intimate, until Teixeira’s Kristina gives an impassioned speech damning Julie not for her betrayal, but for confirming that their relationship is rooted in servitude. Teixeira dazzles in what is the highlight and most memorable part of the evening.