By BOB HOOVER
There’s no more “Irish” in PICT, the reborn theater company that survived the departures of founder Andrew Paul and his successor Allan Stanford. There’s plenty of energy, though, as PICT has scheduled a series of programs inspired by the current production, including two with the adapter Amy Ng.
PICT has revamped the former home of Off the Wall Productions in Carnegie, retaining its intimate nature and installing a high-tech stage with a rear projection screen.
The result is an attractive performance space created by designers Tucker Topel (scenic), Bob Steineck (lighting), Steve Shapiro (sound), and Natalie Rose Mabry (projection), all with long careers in the theater.
They’re joined by E.E. Huffman’s lovely costumes and Alex Keplar’s appropriate props.
But, then there’s the play. Ibsen’s rival Strinberg confronted the social circumstances of the oppressor vs. the oppressed by turning the relationship around. Strinberg’s Miss Julie, a high-born young woman, is seduced by the lower-class servant Jean. The confusion and guilt bring a tragic end.
Ng’s reworked script moves the story to the newly liberated Hong Kong after World War II. Julie is the daughter of the British colonial governor, and she’s still recovering from imprisonment in a Japanese internment camp.
As played by Shelby Garrett, the 20-something Julie is immature, flighty, and obsessed with her pets. Directed by Elizabeth Elias Huffman, Garrett flounces around the stage in a state of near hysteria shared by the other principals. She also seems unaware of biology, particularly menstruation.
The Chinese servants are John, the chauffeur, played by Trieu Tran, Christine, the kitchen slave and John’s fiance, played by Yan Pang, and the shadowy Auntie, played by Mimi Jong, an accomplished Erhu musician whose lovely playing of the traditional Chinese instrument emphasizes the cultural differences the play focuses on.
This short (90-minute) production compresses the action set during the Chinese New Year’s celebration, making the shifts of the characters too abrupt.
John bounces from the seducer of Julie to the faithful lover of Christine, who sleeps with her lover, then renounces him as Julie pushes John away, then jumps in the sack with him. Ready to take Julie away from Hong Kong, John then reverses his plan.
Love (or lust) quickly turns to disgust as the nature of these relationships is restored. John finds his “inner Coolie,” says Julie, as he leaps to the commands of her father.
Ng’s sexualization of colonialism’s oppression simplifies the conflict. John is the “Yellow peril” threat to the white woman, but the state of colonialism is far more complex. It is just hinted at in this Miss Julie adaptation.
One small observation: Miss Julie was recently released from the Japanese camp, suggesting that the time was circa 1946, while she suggested that John go to “communist China,” which didn’t exist until 1949.
This play’s ending is ambiguous. Is Julie too humiliated to go on or ready to reassume her “rightful place” as the English woman back in command?
PICT’s Miss Julie is an exquisite production of a classic play, but the adaptation skims the surface of the original’s message.
You can learn more about this production from Sharon Eberson’s preview of Miss Julie here https://onstagepittsburgh.com/2025/04/18/for-amy-ngs-miss-julie-pict-takes-a-deep-dive-into-asian-culture
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Pittsburgh International Classic Theatre production of Miss Julie, adapted by Amy Ng, based on August Strinberg’s Miss Julie, is at Carnegie Stage, 25 W. Main St., Carnegie, through May 4, 2025. Tickets at: https://pictclassictheatre.ludus.com/index.php
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Reviews
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