Miss Julie was originally written by August Strindberg in 1888, yet this production – staged in superb fashion at fortyfivedownstairs for the next two weeks – isn’t a revival, but rather a reimagining.
The action is brought forward to the present day, inside a Melbourne restaurant. The Head Chef and restauranteur is not in tonight, so Christine (Izabella Yena) and John (Adam-Jon Fiorentino) are running the kitchen, while also contending with the Head Chef’s daughter, Miss Julie (Annalise Gelagotis).
Motivated at first seemingly more by anarchism than altruism, Miss Julie tests patience then boundaries over a fraught night and day, before all three reckon with the fallout.
To be sure, it’s a malleable story whose skeleton can withstand many texts and production styles, from Patrick Marber’s After Miss Julie that relocated the tragedy to an English country house on election night in 1945, to Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Miss Julie in 2016 that had their actors in a glass box with manned cameras on the outside allowing for split-screen live performance.
Here, Angelina Daniel’s set design and Georgie Wolfe’s lighting initially has things appearing with plenty of familiarity. There’s a kitchen in operation, the restaurant’s wait staff are tending to customers, and it’s clear from the outset that Christine will not let standards drop, especially so close to the end of service.
Realism abounds, yet there’s something about the way the set has been so precisely dressed and lit (as you would expect in a high-end restaurant) that already starts to engender an otherworldly quality. While some sound design is present, much of it comes from the wait staff – calling out like a thematic Greek chorus – highlighting, complimenting, even taunting.
When not moving the set or themselves in stylised choreography, they literally wait, standing still at either side of the play mostly (but not completely) obscured by shadows. They mimic the effect of having the audience in traverse, a backdrop of barely visible faces watching in judgement. All these design elements help place the action in a space that increasingly feels unsettling, cut off for a time from the rest of the world.
Izabella Yena gave a strong performance as Christine, presenting a character who is aware of her place in the kitchen’s hierarchy, but certainly suffers no lack of dignity because of it. Over the course of the play, Izabella conveys pride and pragmatism in equal measure. Whether in the larger moments with John, or smaller ones alone, there’s a consistency Izabella brings to Christine that’s a joy to watch.
Annalise Gelagotis played Miss Julie initially as a brat. While initially Miss Julie’s disregard for convention comes off as immature (as the common definition for “brat” might suggest), it becomes apparent that her brat has a darker, more mesmerizing streak.
Julie enjoys being mischievous and disobedient in expectation of a reaction from John. In real life, such dynamics occur (ideally) in healthier relationships, but here Miss Julie’s ‘play’ soon turns destructive. Annalise, making her professional debut, delivers a wonderful performance as she navigates Miss Julie’s trajectory from cheeky naiveté to emotional desolation.
Adam-Jon Fiorentino plays a John pulled taut between giving into his baser desires and desperately trying to maintain some level of decorum. There are moments where John wants to command his destiny is ferocious, yet his choices matter little when the Head Chef calls.
While the kitchen shifts and things go astray, his master’s knives are always present, a psychological weight that gets heavier and heavier as the curtain approaches. Adam-JOn played these facets of John – from self-satisfaction, to a final tableaux of utter surrender – in an engaging, muscular performance.
Scenes of sex and violence must obviously be carefully arranged and the cast throughout do splendid work in presenting their choreography that inexorably – as the play proceeds – becomes more brutal than ballet, until the final, compelling blackout.
MISS JULIE
fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Performance: Saturday 2 August 2025
Season continues to 17 August 2025
Bookings: www.fortyfivedownstairs.com
For more information, visit: www.company16.com.au for details.
Images: Adam-Jon Fiorentino, Annalise Gelagotis and Izabella Yena in MISS JULIE – photo by Matto Lucas | The Cast and Ensemble in MISS JULIE – photo by Matto Lucas
Review: June Collins