Mies Julie
May 25Jun 24, 2018
By Yaël Farber

Synopsis

In a remote South African desert, farm laborer John and his Afrikaans master’s daughter, Julie, confront their passions, longing, and the realization that no one is ever truly free from their past. Adapted from August Strindberg’s Miss Julie.

Video

[lgc_column grid=”33″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”false”]

YouTube video

[/lgc_column]

[lgc_column grid=”33″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”false”]

YouTube video

[/lgc_column]

[lgc_column grid=”33″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”false”]

Apartheid in South Africa – What you Need to Know

Mlondi Mlondi tells us what you need to know about Apartheid and the signifigance of Freedom Day before you see Mies Julie.

Posted by Victory Gardens Theater on Tuesday, May 29, 2018

[/lgc_column]

[lgc_column grid=”33″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”false”]

Artists

[lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”false”]

Dexter Bullard, Director

Yaël Farber, Playwright

Cast

Tosha “Ayo”” Aston (Ukhokho)

Heather Chrisler (Mies Julie)

Jalen Gilbert (John)

Celeste Williams (Christine) “

[/lgc_column]

[lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”true”]

Production Team

Kurtis Boetcher, Set Design
Raquel Adorno, Costume Design
Diane D. Fairchild, Lighting Design
Stephen Ptacek, Sound Design
Eleanor Kahn, Props Design
Kristina Fluty, Intimacy & Violence Choreographer
Phil Timberlake, Dialect Coach
Skyler Gray, Dramaturgy
Majel Cuza, Production Manager
Jessica Forella, Production Stage Manager

[/lgc_column]

Press

  • ★★★★
    “Utterly fearless”

    “A fine, homegrown work in profound conversation.”
    “If the ghost of Strindberg had been in the Biograph Theatre, he surely would have approved.”
    “Farber…embraces complexity of point of view… we do not see nearly enough of her work. God, it’s good”
    “This is a show that took guts to stage.”
    Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
  • “Far and away the most brilliant play to arrive on a Chicago stage this season.”
    Hedy Weiss, WTTW
  • “You will emerge transformed”
    “Unforgettably haunting”
    “Fertile with conflict and emotion”
    “Once you see it (and you should see it, as soon as possible), you will never be able to watch the original the same way again.”
    Mies Julie is a work of significant risk. It has already succeeded in artistic excellence.”
    Kevin Greene, Newcity (RECOMMENDED)
  • “Strindberg’s drama scorches and sears in a bold new way.
    Larry Bommer, Stage and Cinema (RECOMMENDED)
  • ★★★★
    “Challenge is something that Victory Gardens Theater has never run away from.

    Al Bresloff, Around the Town Chicago
  • ★★★★
    “Seventy minutes of compelling theatre.

    “You’ll know you’ve experienced something extraordinary when it is finished and you remember how to breathe again.”

    “One of the most intense shows of the year, it’s also one of the best.”
    Karen Topham, Chicago on Stage
  • “STUNNING. The temperature never stops rising.” —The New York Times
  • “Miss Julie has never raged quite so fiercely. Brilliant.” —The Guardian

Gallery

 

Public Programs

Post-Show Conversation
After every performance of Cambodian Rock Band (unless otherwise noted)

Join us for one of our intimate post-show conversations led by members from the Victory Gardens community, reflect on what you’ve seen, and share your response.

Post-Show Panel
MAY 27 | Sunday | 4:15PM

How is the experience of being Black in South Africa similar to being Black in America?  How is it different?  How have the parallel histories of these countries created an eerily similar separate but equal Black experience?  Join us for a post-show conversation with Mlondolozi Bradley Zondi, PhD candidate in the Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University, and Marcelle McVay Management Fellow Aaron Todd Douglas to discuss the global implications of Blackness.

Post-Show Panel
MAY 31 | Thursday | 8:45PM

Mies Julie is a play full of violence, sex, and passion. Ever wonder how that gets staged? How do you negotiate violence and intimacy onstage? What about when they’re entangled? And how do you do it while maintaining the safety of the actors, both physically and emotionally? Join us for a post-show conversation with Dexter Bullard, the director, and Kristina Fluty, intimacy and violence coach for Mies Julie, to discuss how they bring the passion and violence to life.

Post-Show Panel
June 6 | Wednesday | 8:45PM

Miss Julie is one of the most renowned and produced plays of all time. But what is it like to embody these iconic characters? And what is it like for Americans to play South Africans? What are the similarities and differences between experiences? Join us after the performance of Mies Julie for a panel discussion with the cast to talk about their experience in bringing the play to life.

Post-Show Panel
June 9 | Saturday | 4:15PM

Both the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements were created to help heal the members of their communities that have been violently marginalized. Both of these movements have a common goal, so what happens when they intersect? In 
Mies Julie, we see two people experience systemic violence and how they navigate within it. Join us for a post show panel conversation with the Invisible Institute about the intersection of these two movements that are vital to social change.

Post-Show Panel
June 14 | Thursday | 8:45PM

What stories of injustice do we see both onstage and in our own lives? Unsilence ​is an organization dedicated to ​breaking​ taboos and ​uplifting marginalized ​voices in order ​to illuminate stories of human rights​.​ After this performance of
Mies Julie, engage in an​ empowering learning experience to spark dialogue, support critical thinking, and build empathy ​in our community. Presented by Unsilence, this post-show experience seeks to inspire healing and social change – and it begins with you.

Post-Show Workshop
June 15 | Friday | 8:45PM

Dance has always been an important aspect of South African culture – from gumboot, to the Johannesburg ballet and to the festival dancing that forms the backdrop for Mies Julie. But how familiar are you with South African dance? Can you tell umgubha from patha-patha? Try your hands (and feet!) at it with a post-show workshop with Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago that you’ll find seriously moving!

Post-Show Panel
June 16 | Saturday | 4:15PM

Mies Julie is set on Freedom Day – a South African holiday which commemorates the first democratic election and the end of apartheid in 1994. More than 20 years later, how has the country changed after its political transition? How much progress has been made and what obstacles are still being faced today? Join us after the performance for a discussion about the challenges and triumphs of contemporary South Africa.