Outlawed attraction
The final rehearsals are in full swing for a sizzling three-hander of a drama, set at the time of the General Strike.
‘Miss Julie’is a love story where the laird’s daughter falls for her father’s valet, resulting in a major disturbance in the class divide that has thus far kept such liaisons from taking root in the public eye.
Zinnie Harris’adaptation of August Strindberg’s text sets the action in mid-1920s Scotland, giving the classic story increased relevance to Perth Theatre audiences.
The General Strike is in full swing when, on a stifling summer’s evening, Miss Julie, the laird’s daughter, and John, the laird’s manservant reach out to each other.
Set alight by the promise of revolution escalating outside, the pair grasp at the possibility of a different life - until only one desperate choice remains.
Director Shilpa T-Hyland said: “Zinnie Harris’s adaptation of Miss Julie appealed immediately to me; resetting this story of lust and social transgression to mid-1920s What to do about John and Julie?
Scotland gives it a resonance with today that I find intriguing.
“The offstage mill workers who work for Julie’s father are in the middle of the strikes and social unrest which seemed to promise a new kind of world.
“Meanwhile in the basement kitchen Julie, the maid and the valet remain trapped by their social positions even as they begin to break the rules.
“Over the course of a single, sticky hot night we watch them struggling to truly understand each other and their different privileges and constraints, while yearning for something more.
“I’m hugely enjoying directing this fast-paced drama which contains all the love, cruelty and dangerous decision making which befits a hot midsummer night when the master’s away and anything could happen.“
Shilpa added:“I’m also delighted to be doing so as The Cross Trust young director award recipient, with a fantastic production and creative team.”
‘Miss Julie’opens on Thursday , February 14 and runs until February 23, in the Joan Knight Studio at Perth Theatre.