“Mies Julie”

Highly Recommended **** Challenge is something that Victory Gardens Theater has never run away from. Even scripts that “smack ” you in the face, or that make you “wince” are often shown on their stage. Their current production, probably one of the shortest plays to be witnessed on this sage, “Mies Julie”, a 72 minute adaptation of August Strindberg’s “Miss Julie” by Yael Farber. This is a play that takes us back to  “Freedom Day”, 18 years after apartheid in South Africa. 2012 would be the year. The play takes place on a remote farm and is a three character story. The characters are Christine ( Celeste Williams), who has been connected to this farm all of er life, and whose entire family has been connected as well. In fact, as the play opens she is scrubbing the kitchen floor, a floor that was built over the graves of her ancestors, which is very troubling for her and her son John ( a powerful performance by Jalen Gilbert).

John works the farm and, again has always been there He is close to his “master” and from what we hear in later conversations, was close to his master’s wife and daughter. The daughter is now grown up- very grown up. Her name is Mies Julie ( deftly handled by Heather Chrisler), who on this particular night, being left behind by her father, has been drinking, and along with the heat and the coming storm, has become a little uncontrollable. She is feverish and filled with passion. While she knows that she has the power to control John and his mother, she is ready to be free of her father and the way she is treated by him. She will do whatever it takes to lure John to steal her father’s money and take her far away from the home that has been more for the slaves than hers.

There is an old saying that “there is very little space between emotions, such as love and hate”, and this story shows just how close they are. Both of these main characters express their hate of each other, yet we can see and feel the passion thru both their hate and love scenes. Yes, there is a very x-rated love scene that is not for children ( or people who cannot handles any nudity or sexual conduct on stage) or those faint of heart. This is a play, directed with great emotion by Dexter Bullard, that deals with race and power, gender and power, and a look at how individuals see their lives and the effects that come from beingdifferent.

If one understand the strong rules that of Apartheid, keeping blacks and whites apart, stripping them of any physical contact, and curtailing the ability to own the best land in the country. THis play examines much of this and the inner feelings of the people who are told they are “free”, but are they?. In fact, will they ever be? It is a strong story and there is also some quaint music composed by T. Ayo Alston, who plays Ukhokho, a mysterious character who guards the burial ground of the family buried under the kitchen floor. Listen very carefully to the words spokenabout Mies Julie’s mother. There are secrets within the secrets.

Kurtis Boetcher’s set is amazing. It appears to be a huge square kitchen with floor tiles broken and disturbed. It turns out Christine is trying to free her family. The costumes ( Raquel Adorno), lighting ( Diane D. Fairchild) and sound (Stephen Ptacek) are all masterful and Eleanor Kahn has done a great job with the props. In this play, as there have been in many others ( of late) we have an intimacy/violence choreographer to make the love scenes and also the hate scenes very realistic. Kristina Fluty , what you created was sheer perfection and did not cause anyone to  panic.

“Mies Julie” will continue at Victory Gardens Theater located at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue thru June 24th with performances as follows:

Tuesdays  7:30 p.m.

Wednesdays  7:30 p.m.

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Sundays  3 :00 p.m.

Tickets range from $15- $60 and are available at the box office, by calling 773-871-3000 or online at www.victorygardens.org

ACCESSIBLE performance schedule:

ASL Interpreted  6/8 at 7:30 p.m.

Word-for-word ( open captioning)  6/8, 6/9  (3 p.m.) and 6/13 at 3 p.m. with a touch-tour at 1:30 p.m.

Audio Description: 6/8 at 7:30 p.m. touch tour at 6 p.m. and 6/17 ( Happy Father’s Day) at 3 p.m. (touch tour at 1:30 p.m.)

Valet parking ($13) is available. Parking is on the street/metered and there are some spaces in th old Children’s Hospital Parking garage, just south on Lincoln Avenue

To see what others are saying, visit http://www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Mies Julies”.