AFTER MISS JULIE at Roundabout's AA Theatre

(Seen 10/23/09)

I have no problem with updating theatre classics --- having done so myself --- but only if it improves it or adds new elements to it that makes the work more accessible to contemporary audiences. Unfortunately, this is not the case in the Patrick Marber adaptation of the Strindberg play.

He has set the action in 1945 Britain, still a class-conscious society, though on the verge of some societal class changes. It makes an interesting back drop, but doesn't really mesh. And there is no chemistry nor charisma on stage, so there is little for us to care about.

Director Mark Brokaw and movie starlet Sienna Miller are the main problems, besides those with the script. Brokaw has given us a series of stage poses, particularly with Ms. Miller, that evoke audience laughter. Julie comes across as a spoiled, snobbish teenager pretending to be sexy and seductive -- but this fails because the actress seems that way rather than the character, and renders her ludicrous.