In the world of theatre, few plays can be considered as transformational and groundbreaking as August Strindberg’s “Miss Julie.” Originally written in 1888, the tragic tale of an upper-class woman desperate to escape the trappings of her world through an affair with a servant has resonated with audiences around the world for over a century, surpassing all boundaries of culture and language.
Now, the University of Toledo Department of Theatre and Film brings Strindberg’s tale to life once more in a new production of “Miss Julie,” directed by Associate Theatre Professor, Cornel Gabara, from a new translation of the original Swedish text by Daniel Thobias, Assistant Professor of Theatre. The show began its run on November 21 and will continue with a second weekend of performances, December 5 through 7.
“I’ve been translating things here and there, mostly modern pieces,” Thobias, a native Swede, said in an interview with Toledo Free Press. “And I wanted to try something a little more difficult. And Strindberg is — it’s not modern Swedish, but it’s not that far removed, so it’s not too difficult to translate. So I wanted something that people knew about.”
“Strindberg describes ‘Miss Julie’ as the first true Swedish Naturalistic play,” Gabara said. “Starting from this statement, I consider this play to be about a woman who tries to live ‘truly’ to her nature, in spite of differences established by different social classes, gender relationships and religious dogma.”
For writer Thobias, “Miss Julie” is a text that has had resonance throughout his life — he was first introduced to the play in grade school in his native Sweden, where it is a standard. But he saw deeper themes in the text that he felt would be easily relatable to a modern English-speaking audience, if only for a language barrier — and not just between Swedish and English.
“I’ve read a lot of other translations, and overall, they were done quite a while ago. They are old, because they were done a long time ago, and the English in and of itself feels old-fashioned. And when people see a play like that, and the English comes across as old-fashioned, they think the play, in itself, is old-fashioned,” Thobias said.
“But it really isn’t. When you read the original language, it actually comes across as fairly contemporary, actually. Even though the idioms and certain expressions aren’t used anymore, it still feels very vibrant and new. “
Gabara, on the other hand, came to the piece first later in life — through a Romanian translation while working at the National Theatre of Bucharest. But he too believed that the play’s story could resonate to Ohio audiences once Thobias suggested the project.
“When Daniel proposed a new translation of the play, I was immediately interested,” Gabara said. “Thus I had the opportunity to compare many different translations of the text, and I find that Daniel’s translation is particularly theatrical and contains a solid understanding of dramatic action. Due to the fact that he is a person of theatre — rather than a linguist or poet — he understands how language works onstage, and his language is more accessible to actors and audience. He has also captured a more contemporary feel without losing the original imagery and poetry. “
Beyond work on his new translation, Thobias has been heavily involved in the process of developing the final production, which was not his goal initially. “I wanted to be very hands-off on the project. Unfortunately, just because I’m a professor here, that was not possible,” he said. “Ideally, I just wanted to hand my translation over and just walk in for the opening. That’s what I wanted. But that can’t happen. Not only because of the collaboration with Cornell, but also, I am a mentor for the set designer. So, I’ve been heavily involved with that, I’ve been involved with publicity.
“I’m more involved than I want to be. But it’s also a lot of fun, obviously.”
In the end, as Julie stares out at a world that may no longer support individuals like herself, director Gabara believes that even though the class structure that Strindberg was depicting and deconstructing may be obsolete, the emotional core of the piece remains as relatable as ever.
“The play has endured more than a century because Strindberg was able to understand human nature, and human nature has not changed,” Gabara said. “We still love as passionately and hate as deeply; we act and react the same way as described in great works of all universal or ‘classic’ playwrights, from Euripides, to Shakespeare, to Chekhov, to Beckett, to Sarah Kane. Strindberg is among these great observers of humanity.”
