The House Party at HOME
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
The House Party, a contemporary reimagining of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie, is set to captivate audiences at HOME Manchester this March.
This exciting translation, a collaboration between Headlong and Chichester Festival Theatre, in association with Frantic Assembly, brings a fresh perspective to Strindberg’s timeless themes of class, privilege, and desire.
For this new production, writer Laura Lomas and director Holly Race Roughan, have transported the action to the present day, to Julie’s 18th birthday party in an extravagant British townhouse. To mark her birthday, Julie is throwing a wild party in her father’s opulent home. Julie is recently single, and her long-standing best friend, Christine, is desperately trying to pick up the pieces. As the night unfolds, boundaries begin to blur; the volume goes up and the shots go down. Is Julie mixing a dangerous blend of entitlement, desire, and self-destruction?
With explosive physical sequences by movement director Scott Graham of Frantic Assembly, the play has already garnered acclaim among audiences and critics. WhatsOnStage has described it as “bracingly relevant and searingly shocking,” while The Stage has praised its “fresh, ferociously intense, and visually striking” presentation.
The ensemble cast features Sesley Hope as Christine, Synnøve Karlsen as Julie, and Tom Lewis as Jon. Most pleasingly, the production also sees several alumni from Frantic Assembly’s IGNITION program take to the stage, highlighting the company’s dedication in supporting young people into theatre and the arts.
With dynamic performances, ingenious staging and intense physicality, The House Party tackles timeless themes of class and gender, promising an urgent and compelling spin on Strindberg’s naturalistic classic. Go see.
