Most local theater critics have, at some point, named Director Sean Grady the "it" boy of the scene thanks to his punkish contemporization of the classics. His style works best when the original work actually has a dark undertone. His methods were right for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, less so for What the Butler Saw, though I'll admit the latter was hilarious. Grady in the director's seat is, by now, a reliable brand. At worst, his vision overshadows the rest of the work. At best, he's reimagined and enhanced an already strong script.
Miss Julie belongs in the better half. He's shifted the focus of August Strindberg's 1888 love triangle from an ageist, classist conflict to a modern day pseudo-nihilistic death struggle. More important, his roving, promenade-style set obliterates the six generations between Strindberg's world and ours. Promenade as in we the audience roam the Chopin Theater's basement as the players pull out new set pieces for each scene. Miss Julie has a tryst with her valet Jean, self-conscious that his lover Kristine (Miss J's cook) will find out. The lovebirds court in the kitchen and bar, hook up in a bedroom strewn with thrift store finds, and split in a meat locker cum powder room. (blood, butchery... it's all good)
Class division dominates this show, wrecking the affair, allowing her to return to her comfortable, if dissatisfying life and relegating him to pariah status. The finale, fake blood and all, happens 3 feet or so from us, a killer of a time. Only weird moment was seeing Grady himself in the audience, taking notes in breathing distance of his actors. Like it or not, he's the star of the evening.
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