Theatre Preview: Mies Julie Reimagined In The Bleak Beauty of South Africa

Dec 19 2017, 5:43 pm

I don’t know a lot about African dance. But if prestigious Edinburgh Fringe gave its stamp of approval to Mies Julie, then I’m sure you’ll find lots to like in this Canadian premiere.

Mies Julie was the unqualified favourite of the prestigious Edinburgh Festival Fringe at its international premiere in 2012. Since then it has become an international sensation and one of the most sought-after touring productions in the world. Mies Julie’s Canadian premiere at The Cultch is one of the highlights of an April filled with South African events including the 20th anniversary of the end of apartheid.

Internationally acclaimed director Yael Farber sets her explosive new adaptation of Strindberg’s classic Miss Julie in the remote, bleak beauty of South Africa. In the sweltering heat of a Cape Karoo kitchen, a deadly battle unfolds over power, sexuality, memory, mothers, and land. This newly menacing, passionate, and relevant allegory for a post-apartheid state in transition was named one of 2012’s Top 5 productions by The Guardian, UK and the Top 10 of 2012 by The New York Times.

Yael Farber is internationally admired for her socio-politically hard-hitting works, often updating classic texts: notably SeZar (2001), her African adaptation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Kadmos, from Sophocles’ Theban Plays, MoLoRa (2007), a radical reworking of the Oresteia Trilogy, which again looks at the South Africa’s dark legacy and a forthcoming reworking of King Lear, set in the Middle East.

Mies Julie, Baxter Theatre Centre (South Africa)

When: March 25 to April 19, 2014

Where: The Cultch – 1895 Venables Street, Vancouver

Tickets: Starting at $30 – Buy online

 

Image: Murdo MacLeod

DH Vancouver StaffDH Vancouver Staff

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