Aleiya Als 12/14/13

Theater A Brooklyn College

Miss Julie

The production of Miss Julie at Brooklyn Colleges new workshop theater was
different than the past two productions that Ive seen; Clybourne Park and Becky
Shaw. The play touched on a social problem that happened in that time period which
was frowned upon. This was the affiliation of a gentry woman (Miss Julie) and a
house servant (Jean). The play was quiet interesting and engaging with its twist and
turns in the story line and its use of a pun basing it off of Miss. Julies height. The
relative success of the play was primarily due to the direction, the set design, the
sound, and most of all the actors.
The direction and the set design had a major impact on the outcome of the play.
The play was located in a black box theater set as a thrust which means that there
were seating on the left, right, and center. I was located on the left side of the stage.
Being on the left side of the stage wasnt always the best because there were times
when the actors blocked my vision. The stage presented two sceneries in one; a scene
of the barn in which the servants were dancing and having fun until Miss Julie came
and inside the mansion where Miss Julie and Jean a servant had sex. During the sex
scene, Miss Julie and Jean were on top of the kitchen table in which there was a ceiling
light hanging above them. This lighting gave off a red light which represented what
they were doing was an act of sin. In the barn scene, there was a real life finch giving
off the effect of being intertwined with nature because it made noises which was out of
the actors control. There was a point in time when Miss Julie was standing on the
table yelling at Jean. While on the table, she had hit the ceiling light and with the use of
stage direction, she knew how to avoid getting hit by the light. As for the audience,
they were on the edge of their seats wondering if shes going to get hit in the head.
Another direction that was used in the play was the use of words playing off as a pun
because of Miss Julies height. One example of this was when Kristen said If Miss Julie
wishes to lower herself, then it will be his honor. The direction and set design was
affective to the play by making the audience laugh, understanding the setting and time
period, and the use of the props around you.
The sound of the production became more pronounced in dramatic parts of the
scenes. The sounds, although not played by speakers, were done vocally by the
servants playing as the chorus for the play. Some scenes that the chorus sang to give
off the dramatic scene was the sex scene, when Miss Julie said that her dad was
coming , and when Jean told Miss Julie how he was in love with her. While the chorus
was singing, the actors were still performing which made it hard to focus on both
performances and to take in the words that they were reciting. As a result, the sound
was important to help emphasize how important and dramatic a particular scene was.
Personally, my favorite actor was Sofiya Cheyenne who played the main
character Miss Julie. As a little person, she had the personality of someone twice her
size which was shown on stage in her performance. Her height played a significant
role in the play. This is because certain things such as people who are 6ft are talking
orders from someone half theyre height. The funniest part was when she was having
sex with Jean and all you could see from the left side of the stage was her legs in the
air. I found it funny. Also, when Jean had something in his eye and she got on the chair
to take it out. I thought she would have him sit down, coming down to her level; I guess
I was wrong. Miss Julies character came off to me as someone who has been through
a lot. With her mothers hatred of men rubbing off on her and her familys history;
The apple doesnt fall far from the tree.
In conclusion, the way an actor performs, the direction, set design, sound
choices, and other theatrical elements that go into producing a play can affect the
relative success or failure of the overall production.