Mies Julie and The Dance of Death at CSC

[AntV]

Posted: 1/19/19 at 6:09pm

How are these? How much sexual content and nudity is in Mies Julie?

[JBroadway]

Posted: 1/20/19 at 12:10am

I saw both of them today - Mies Julie first, then Dance of Death in the Evening.

I enjoyed Mies Julie. Its definitely an adaptation, and not just in the usual way that every translation is sort of an adaptation. Like, this is actually an adaptation. They change the setting to South Africa, with Julie being white Afrikaans, and John being Black. In general, it works well and makes for engaging drama. Rather than focusing on climbing vs. descending the social ladder, as Strindberg does, Farber puts the emphasis more on ownership of land, and ownership of the self. On heritage and history, and how those play into class and race. Christine is Johns mother in this version, as opposed to his friend/other lover. Stindbergs structure and fundamental themes are still present, but Farber is telling her own story here - which is great IMO. For me, thats how adaptations should be. The performances were strong, too.

Dance of Death, on the other hand, was freaking interminable. I didnt know the play going in, so I dont know how this production compares to others. But this was basically 2 hours (no intermission) of a couple yelling at each other. Large portions of it were played for laughs, which might have made the pointless bickering more tolerable if the humor had actually landed. Some people in the audience were laughing, but to me it was like cheesy sitcom-esque humor. The energy peaked about 5 minutes into the play, and they had no where to go, so they just kept shouting and screaming and crying for two hours. The performances lacked any kind of nuance or depth. A total misfire from lights up to lights down.

If you can only see one, see Mies Julie, and give Dance of Death a big skip.

As for the sexual content (cant seem to put this under a spoiler tab on my phone, so just, **POTENTIAL SPOILER**

There are a couple moments of fairly graphic simulations of sex, though they are mostly done fully clothed. She has a dress that is pulled up but nothing is shown. For him, his bare butt is visible from some seats (but not from mine).

[AntV]

Posted: 3/3/19 at 4:48am

Thanks for the only posts in both my topics haha. Any other thoughts on Mies Julie? Still trying to decide if it is worth seeing before it closes.

Posted: 3/3/19 at 12:34pm

I liked both...although I preferred Dance of Death for the humor (it gives me insight to a friend’s interminable marriage drama).  Mies Julie was 75 minutes of waiting for something awful to happen....but it’s the sort of tension that keeps one edge.  This was my first foray into Strindberg..and I’m glad I did it.

[AntV]

Posted: 3/7/19 at 1:45am

https://youtu.be/YkFU9IKZ0Js

This original version of Mies Julie that played St. Anns looks phenomenal. Is this production anywhere as good?