Court Theatre: Miss Julie
Mi Kang and Kelvin Roston Jr.
Court Theatre Presents MISS JULIE Review - Battle of the Classes
TLDR: A one set play has the action of Miss Julie set in the heart of the home, the kitchen, where our titular character and one of her father’s valets face off in a mental chess game. Feeling like this could take place in the 1800s or today, it feels like a timeless space where our characters grapple with class structure and societal expectations.
Kelvin Roston Jr., Mi Kang, and Rebecca Spence
A Dangerous Tug of War
It’s Midsummer night and the household is abuzz with celebration. We hear music and celebratory voices coming from offstage where the servants are partying in the barn. For one cook though, there’s still a few more chores to complete before her day is done. After making a loaf of bread (literally in front of us), Kristine (Rebecca Spence) is joined by the Count’s valet and her rumored lover, Jean played by Kelvin Roston Jr. as he also finishes his day cleaning the Count’s dirty boots.
Soon after, our titular character enters the kitchen with her shoulders back and head held high as it is adorned with a large Midsummer wreath. Though this is Kristine and Jean’s domain, she still walks through as if she owns the place. She picks up things in the kitchen, moves them to different places while Jean stands at attention and Kristine looks defeatedly at the mess.
This Miss Julie played by Mi Kang plays every scene to her advantage, knowing when to admonish social hierarchies but also when to pull rank to get her way. It’s like Miss Julie is leaving a path of destruction wherever she goes and knows she can get away with it. So when her sights are set on Jean, it becomes a tug of war into who will come out on top.
We get pieces about Miss Julie as the servants gossip about her, and we try and puzzle her motivations together. Is she bored? Is she acting this way to save her bruised ego? Does she have a bigger scheme in mind involving Jean?
And what about Jean himself, what does he want to get out of this? Is he truly infatuated with Miss Julie like he says? Or is he after her to try and lift his own station and social standing?
As Jean and Miss Julie dance around each other in the kitchen, it feels like a battle for the upper hand. Who has control of the situation and who will be the first to give. Though there’s no weapons, this feels like a dangerous game for them to be playing and we can’t look away.
Non-Traditional Staging
The original idea for Miss Julie from playwright Strindberg was a naturalistic play. Court Theatre’s production pulls some inspiration from naturalism, but mostly we’re surrounded by abstract imagery. The kitchen design by John Culbert looks like it could be from the 1800s with a large fire burning stove at the center with a work table and chairs in front. But as our view zooms out, the imagery is giving us enclosure or entrapment as a thin, see-through scrim surrounds the circular platform that houses the kitchen.
Surrounding the platform is a glossy, dark green pool with mounds of plants popping through every few feet. When our cast is in the kitchen, they’re surrounded by nature and find themselves entering back into it as they leave the stage.
We feel almost suspended in a timeless place. The set, lighting, and sound design keep us in the modern day, but some of the scene pieces and costumes plant us firmly in the 1800s. Yet the power struggle could one from either time period. Two people grappling with social expectations and playing a dangerous game with each other.
Mi Kang
The After Party Thoughts
If anyone else has seen Sleep No More (the immersive production of Macbeth in New York), you’ll understand when I say the techno music and strobe light combination is giving the witches’ prophecy scene from that show. And so sitting in the Court Theatre watching these scenes with the same intense design creates a sense of unease in us audience members. Kristine is doing something as simple as making a loaf of bread but set to pulsating music and lights has us on edge like a horror film. It carries through the production, the juxtaposing two design ideas to keep us on edge, just like our characters.
This production of Miss Julie packs a lot of symbolism, abstract imagery, and reflections on class into a one act play. For those that aren’t a fan of plays about rich people being bored and making it other people’s problems, this show may not be the one for you. However, if you’re into plays that deconstruct social class and have their characters teetering on the edge of a knife, Miss Julie would be a good fit for you.
RECOMMENDED
Mi Kang and Kelvin Roston Jr.
When
Now through March 8, 2026
Where
Court Theatre
5535 S. Ellis Ave.
Chicago, IL 60637
Runtime: 100min, no intermission
Tickets
$42+
Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at (773) 753-4472 or through the Court Theatre website
Photos
Michael Brosilow
Find Allie and The After Party featured on Theatre in Chicago
CAST
Mi Kang (Miss Julie)
Kelvin Roston Jr. (Jean)
Rebecca Spence (Kristine)
CREATIVE
Gabrielle Randle-Bent (Director)
Harry G. Carlson (Translator)
John Culbert (Scenic Designer)
Raquel Adorno (Costume Designer)
Keith Parham (Lighting Designer)
Willow James (Sound Designer)
Abhi Shrestha (Production Dramaturg)
Sheryl Williams (Fight and Intimacy Designer)
Sammi Grant (Vocal and Dialect Consultant)
Becca McCracken, CSA (Director of Casting and Artist Cultivation)
Celeste M. Cooper (Associate Casting Director)
Katie Moshier (Production Stage Manager)
Amanda Blanco (Assistant Stage Manager)