Notoriously a shocking play, August Strindberg’s Miss Julie, dating from 1888, has been given an extra level of controversial content in the adaptation, as Mies Julie, by South Africa’s Baxter Theatre Centre under the award-winning writer and director Yael Farber.

To the eye-opening plot concerning an aristocratic woman’s seduction of a servant has been grafted a further dimension by making her the white daughter of a farmer and he a black labourer in their employment. Their coupling in a remote South African house 18 years after the end of apartheid touches sensitive nerves.

A sensation wherever it has been staged, including New York, the Edinburgh Festival and the Riverside Studios, the play is now heading — in a significant coup for Oxford — for a special five-day visit to the Playhouse, where Farber’s Amajuba, Molora and SeZaR have previously been staged to huge acclaim.

Theatregoers will not want to miss a production, featuring live music played on stage, that has been called “just sensational” by the Independent, “emotionally shattering” by the Daily Telegraph and “searingly fearless” by the Guardian.

Its fearlessness resides in large part in the graphic sexual content. The Guardian critic wrote: “The sultriness seems to have seeped into Mies Julie’s limbs: she thrums with desire, for something she cannot name. John, her favourite servant, polishes his master’s boots and eyes her warily. She taunts him, entices him, throws herself at him.”

On the receiving end of these attentions since the first days of rehearsal in May of last year has been the 31-year-old South African actor and dancer Bongile Mantsai. The production has proved to be career-defining for him. From the first sight of the script, he knew there was something special in store. “The language was straightforward, brutal and raw. At times I thought, ‘Are we going to see this?’ “They have sex. There was obviously a question of how we are going to do it.”

Bongile says he remains comfortable with what is depicted on stage, having been involved with the other actors in refining the script in the early days.”Yael Farber came up with different drafts of the script. We were asked about stuff, whether we agreed or disagreed, and she kept coming back with new versions. This got me really into it.”

Nevertheless, the show has not been seen by Bongile’s Christian family. His father is a pastor. “Doing the show I’ve always had this picture of them coming. But they haven’t yet.”

The run at the Edinburgh Festival last year proved an especial thrill for the company. Bongile said: “People queueing to see the show has been the highlight of my career to date. We’ve all worked so hard for this and believed Mies Julie would open doors for us. People have been amazing to us, buzzing about the show.” His training as a dancer has proved valuable in his work on the production. “Though there is no dancing in it, there is an element of choreography in the work with our bodies. We are very comfortable.”

Bongile was talking to The Oxford Times from Ireland, following a successful series of shows at the Galway Festival. The following day, the company was leaving for Finland and a series of performances there, before heading for Oxford.

Though he has never visited the city before, he has been doing his research. He is eagerly looking forward to the beauty of the architecture. For his inflexible routine, one of the first buildings he will be seeking out is a gym. Muscles such as his, which are so prominently on view in Mies Julie, are not achieved without hard work.

“Coming to different places has made the play very beautiful for me. People ask me, ‘Aren’t you tired?’ Not at all. What is amazing is the response of audiences that makes you feel this is a story that needs to be told. It needs people to hear it. That is the most important thing.

“I want to go to different places. I don’t think the issues it deals with are South African only. It’s a universal theme. People can see themselves in the story.” He has said: “Every time I go back home to South Africa, I see what still needs to be done, what has not changed. So I have emotions every time when I’m telling the story of John on stage. It means you don’t have to act because of the story’s truth. As South Africans, we feel a responsibility and privilege in telling this story. We do have to be mindful though — it is the story of Mies Julie, not ours.”

 

Oxford Playhouse

From Tuesday to Saturday, August 17.

Box office: 01865 305305, oxfordplayhouse.com