MIES JULIE BY THE SINGAPORE REPERTORY THEATRE

PUBLISHED August 20th, 2014 04:00 pm | UPDATED January 20th, 2016 02:29 pm

Each year, in addition to the seven shows it produces; the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) brings what it considers to be the best show in the world that year to Singapore. Past shows have included Ian McKellen’s King Lear in 2007, The Bridge Project from 2009 to 2011, and last year, Complicite’s Shun-kin, Ninagawa’s Musashi and Peter Brook’s The Suit.

This year is no different. In August and September, the Singapore Repertory Theatre will proudly present ‘Mies Julie’, a production by the Baxter Theatre Centre of the University of Cape Town, written and directed by Yaël Farber.

Farber is a multiple award-winning director and playwright of international acclaim. Her productions have toured the world extensively – earning her a reputation for hard-hitting, controversial works of the highest artistic standard. She presented a play at last year’s Edinburgh Festival called Nirbhaya (meaning fearless one in Hindi), which was inspired by the brutal rape of 23-year-old medical student Jyoti Singh Pandey on a Delhi bus. Her production of Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is currently on at the Old Vic in London.

Mies Julie, which was written and directed by Farber, has won a string of international awards. This compelling tale of power, lust, and love set in post-Apartheid South Africa will be in Singapore for a limited two-week season.

The play is based on Miss Julie, a Naturalist play by Swedish playwright, August Strindberg. In the original version, the action takes place on Midsummer’s Eve on the estate of a Swedish Count. Miss Julie, the young woman of the title, attempting to escape an existence cramped by social mores and to have a little fun, dances at the servants’ annual midsummer party. She is attracted to Jean, her father’s valet. Considered revolutionary in its day, Strindberg’s intense 1888 drama about the unhappy one-night affair between the young upper class Swedish woman and her father’s manservant has often been adapted and updated.

In Yaël Farber’s version, the action takes place in the kitchen of a rural Afrikaaner farmhouse in 2012, eighteen years after the end of apartheid. Outside, the black workers are celebrating ’20 years of freedom,’ a freedom that has proven bitter and elusive as indicated by the news that some blacks are squatting on the farm. Inside, a single night of brutality and tenderness unfolds between a black farm labourer and his white master’s daughter. Julie is the Afrikaans daughter of a farmer in the Karoo region who goes looking for trouble, and John, the Xhosa labourer on the farm whose mother, Christine, works in the house.

Sex and race remain a volatile mix in post-apartheid South Africa, as are the issues of class, politics, history, family and land ownership. The visceral struggles of contemporary South Africa are laid bare as the couple’s deadly attraction spirals out of control and they battle over power, sexuality, memory, mothers and land. Audiences must be prepared for a sprinkling of Xhosa and Afrikaans dialogue and some South African political and geographical references.

So why did the SRT decide to bring this production to Singapore? ‘I am a big fan of Yaël Farber’s work and have seen Mies Julie in London and New York. When the audience in Singapore watches this production, they will appreciate why it is worth watching again and again.’ Says SRT’s Artistic Director, Gaurav Kripalani. He added,’ Visionary direction and a terrific cast make this a show that people will talk about for years to come. Also, having Yaël in Singapore will be an opportunity to learn from her and explore what she might be able to direct for the SRT in the future.’

Produced by Cape Town’s Baxter Theatre Centre, Lara Foot, director and CEO, says: ‘We are thrilled that the Singapore Repertory Theatre will be giving audiences in Asia an opportunity to experience this play, and we are proud to be playing in such a prestigious theatre.’

Mies Julie will be on from 27 August to 13 September 2014 at the DBS Arts Centre – Home of SRT. Due to the adult themes in this play, the play is recommended for those aged 18 years and above. For more information, please visit http://www.sistic.com.sg and http://www.srt.com.sg.

Image credits to SRT

Want 15% off your tickets? Follow the link, applicable only for the 2nd and 11th September shows.