A battle of sexes and class
August Strindberg’s «Miss Julie» tackles a double conflict: the battles of the sexes and class. One of the most important works of world theater, the play opens tonight at the Proskinio Theater, directed by Giorgos Kimoulis. With overt references to sexuality, the play caused immense controversy when it was first published in 1888. It was then staged in a private production in Copenhagen and banned in the rest of Europe, including Sweden – Strindberg’s homeland – where it first opened in 1906. (In Britain, it was presented for the first time in 1939.) The reaction to the play was based not only in the fact that it includes a sexual encounter between a servant and an aristocrat (already scandalous at the time) but that it disassociates sex from the idea of love. Strindberg’s description of sexual desire subsequently influenced a number of playwrights, including Tennessee Williams. In the Proskinio Theater production, Natalia Tsaliki interprets Miss Julie and Yiannis Bezos is Jean. Proskinio, 8 Kapnokoptiriou & Stournari, tel 210.825.2242-3.
