The Daily Sound “Miss Julie” is Wild, Hot and Highly Recommended
Santa Barbara
BY PAUL FOSTER FROEMMING
DAILY SOUND THEATER CRITIC
With the final play of their 2006-2007 season Santa Barbara Theatre has scored a hit with their presentation of “Miss Julie” now playing at Center Stage Theater. It was a play where the set, script, acting and direction combined to create the grand illusion that we all hope to have in the theater.
“Miss Julie” is a production of the Los Angeles based Fountain Theatre, a sister company which has been a major factor in Santa Barbara Theatre’s first two seasons. The script was wonderfully adapted by Stephen Sachs from the original play by August Strindberg. Sachs moved the story to Greenwood, Mississippi during the hot “Freedom Summer” of 1964.
The grand illusion began with a marvelous 1964 era set of a southern kitchen, complete with all the appliances, spices, utensils and running water, a set design by Travis Gale Lewis that was brought from Los Angeles and installed over a shiny kitchen floor.
The naturalistic set was matched by the equally natural performances of the three characters: Christine (Judith Moreland) the cook, John (Chuma Gault) the chauffer and Julie (Tracy Middendorf) the lady of the house and daughter of the owner, a powerful small-town judge.
John and Christine, the two African-American servants, were romantically involved, and you could feel the heat in the kitchen as he embraced her, “Hot and wet,” he said, “just the way I like it.” The two put on a delightful performance and set the stage for the arrival of Miss Julie.
Julie, a beautiful young white woman, arrived wild and hot, with sweat staining her red dress. In the steamy kitchen the tension between blacks and whites became stifling, like enlisted men enduring a martinet officer. Every question or order was answered with “Yes, Miss Julie.” They hesitated as her orders to John began to range from “Kiss my foot” to “dance with me!”
The performances of the three actors cast a spell, the audience collectively held their breath, and the scenes sizzled like the Mississippi heat. Performed in one act, the script provided plenty of excitement and powerful scene endings. On a negative note, cast members lit and smoked cigarettes, which affected the airspace in the intimate Center Stage Theater.
The excellent script, the direction and the performances of the professional cast all rang true. “Miss Julie” is an outstanding theatrical experience, and is highly recommended.