Recipient of the
2012 American Theatre Wing
National Theatre Company Award

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Press

Upward Mobility
Rogue Theatre stays true to Miss Julie’s 19th century Swedish story of sex, sexism and class politics

Review of Miss Julie by M. Scot Skinner in the March 3 Tucson Weekly

19th century constraints bedevil Miss Julie

Review of Miss Julie by Chuck Graham on February 29 in Let The Show Begin! at TucsonStage.com

The Rogue Theatre’s production of Miss Julie will take your breath away

Review of Miss Julie by Kathleen Allen to be published in the March 3 Arizona Daily Star

Miss Julie not as easy going as the name implies

Preview of Miss Julie by Kathleen Allen in the February 25 Arizona Daily Star

Read others’ reviews of The Rogue Theatre, or write your own review on TripAdvisor!

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Direction

	Cynthia Meier (Director) is Co-Founder and Managing and Associate Artistic Director for The Rogue Theatre where she has adapted and directed James Joyce’s The Dead and Kafka’s Metamorphosis, and directed Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Merchant of Venice, Waiting for Godot, Jerusalem, Betrayal, Arcadia, Richard III, Journey to the West, The Winter’s Tale, Shipwrecked!, New-Found-Land, Old Times, The Tempest, Naga Mandala, The Four of Us, Othello, Animal Farm, Orlando, Happy Days, The Good Woman of Setzuan, The Fever and The Cherry Orchard. She holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of Arizona. She is co-founder of Bloodhut Productions, a company performing original monologues and comedy improvisation, which toured throughout the western United States. She also directed The Seagull (featuring Ken Ruta) for Tucson Art Theatre, and she directed Talia Shire in Sister Mendelssohn and Edward Herrmann in Beloved Brahms for Chamber Music Plus Southwest. Cynthia received the Mac Award for Best Director, Drama for Richard III in 2013, and for Arcadia in 2014. She has been nominated for seven Mac Awards for Best Actress from the Arizona Daily Star, and in 2008, she received the Mac Award for Best Actress for her performance of Stevie in Edward Albee’s The Goat at The Rogue Theatre. Cynthia Meier’s direction of Miss Julie is supported in part by a generous gift from Katharina Phillips & Sheldon Trubatch.

Notes from the Director

“I find the joy of life in its cruel and powerful struggles, and my enjoyment comes from getting to know something, from learning something.” —August Strindberg in the Introduction to his play, Miss Julie August Strindberg’s Miss Julie is a study in elemental confrontation. Confrontation between a man and a woman and confrontation between the rich and the poor. Strindberg has created a nexus in the kitchen of a large country estate on Midsummer’s Eve to play out this great battle. Only the fittest will survive. Strindberg, of course, was influenced by the ideas of his time. He was simultaneously deeply impacted by and deeply jealous of his contemporary, Heinrich Ibsen. He patterned much of his thought about naturalism after Émile Zola. His friendship with artist Edvard Munch led to Strindberg’s later development of expressionism in the theatre. And as most writers of the late nineteenth century, he was fascinated by the theories of evolutionist Charles Darwin. We become intrigued with Jean and Miss Julie because they are forces of nature. Their simultaneous attraction and repulsion is as riveting as any clash of the Titans. Yet, Jean and Miss Julie are also highly detailed individuals, full of pride and longing and hopes for the future. Strindberg wrote over 60 plays in his lifetime, but Miss Julie is by far the most frequently produced. Perhaps it is this fascinating blend of realistic details and fundamental forces that makes us return again and again to watch the valet and the mistress engage. —Cynthia Meier, Director director@theroguetheatre.org

 

 

About the Playwright

August Strindberg (1849–1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg’s career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis, and politics. A bold experimenter and iconoclast throughout, he explored a wide range of dramatic methods and purposes, from naturalistic tragedy, monodrama, and history plays, to his anticipations of expressionist and surrealist dramatic techniques. From his earliest work, Strindberg developed innovative forms of dramatic action, language, and visual composition. He is considered the “father” of modern Swedish literature and his The Red Room (1879) has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel.

 

Matt Bowdren as Jean and Marissa Garcia as Miss Julie

 

Holly Griffith as Kristine and Marissa Garcia as Miss Julie

Photos by Tim Fuller

 

Cast
Jean		Matt Bowdren*
Miss Julie		Marissa Garcia
Kristine		Holly Griffith
Singing Peasants		Connor Foster Grace Kirkpatrick Joseph McGrath* Kathleen McGrath Nathan Oppenheimer
performing A Lady She Walked Down By the Shore Music by Jake Sorgen, Lyrics by Frank McGuiness Vocal Arrangement by Thomas Wentzel
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

 

	Matt Bowdren (Jean) is an Artistic Associate and Education Director for The Rogue Theatre. At the Rogue he has appeared in By the Bog of Cats, Hamlet (2015 Mac Award for Best Actor), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Merchant of Venice, Waiting for Godot, Awake and Sing, Betrayal, Arcadia, Measure for Measure, Mistake of the Goddess, after the quake (2013 Mac Award for Best Actor), Richard III, Metamorphosis, Mother Courage and Her Children, The Night Heron, Journey to the West, As I Lay Dying, Major Barbara, The Real Inspector Hound, New-Found-Land, The Four of Us, Six Characters in Search of an Author and The Goat. Other Arizona credits include The Pillowman with the Now Theatre and Romeo and Juliet with Southwest Shakespeare. Recently Matt was seen as a Faculty Fellow and teaching artist with The Arizona Repertory Theatre in Frankenstein and Othello. Regionally Matt has performed in Georgia and New York City with The Rose of Athens, Hudson Shakespeare Company, and Collaborative Stages. Matt holds an M.F.A in Performance from the University of Georgia. Matt Bowdren’s performance is supported in part by a generous gift from Bill & Barbara Dantzler.
Marissa Garcia (Miss Julie) has appeared at The Rogue in By the Bog of Cats, The Merchant of Venice, Awake and Sing, Purgatorio, Betrayal, Measure for Measure, Mistake of the Goddess, after the quake, Richard III, Metamorphosis, Mother Courage, The Night Heron, Journey to the West, The Winter’s Tale, As I Lay Dying, and Major Barbara. Marissa has been honored to work for troupes in Colorado and California and graced with the talents of band mates throughout the country. Marissa is a native Tucsonan and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and Directing from the University of Arizona. Other local roles include: Ann Deever in All My Sons (Live Theatre Workshop), Thomasina Coverly in Arcadia (Arizona Repertory Theatre) and Ana Hernandez in Living Out (Borderlands Theater—Mac Award Nominee, Best Actress). Marissa Garcia’s performance is supported in part by a generous gift from Ward & Judy Wallingford.
	Holly Griffith (Kristine) has performed at The Rogue Theatre as Caroline Cassidy in By the Bog of Cats, Ophelia in Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice, in the ensemble of The Lady in the Looking Glass, as Pea in Jerusalem, in the ensemble of Purgatorio and as Chloë Coverly in Arcadia. Holly has also served at The Rogue as a box office assistant, Stage Manager for Waiting for Godot and as dramaturg for By the Bog of Cats, Awake and Sing, Measure for Measure and Mistake of the Goddess. Holly received her Master’s degree in English Literature at the University of Arizona in 2015. Holly has also served as the President of Emerson Dance Company in Boston, MA, and choreographed a Student Dance Showcase at The Miami Valley School in Dayton, OH. Holly also directed Marina Carr’s By the Bog of Cats, and co-directed Brian Friel’s Lovers for Rareworks Theatre Company in Boston, MA. Holly Griffith’s performance is supported in part by a generous gift from John & Joyce Ambruster.
Connor Foster (Singing Peasant) is performing in his tenth show with The Rogue Theatre. Connor first worked with The Rogue in 2008 when he appeared as The Boy in Six Characters in Search of an Author. In 2012 he played an ensemble character in Mother Courage, then in 2013 he played Claudio in William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Last season he played Davey in Jerusalem, a member of the ensemble of The Lady in the Looking Glass and Salanio in The Merchant of Venice. This season he appeared as Horatio in Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and the Ghost of Joseph Swane in By the Bog of Cats.
	Grace Kirkpatrick (Singing Peasant) is studying at the University of Arizona for a BFA in Acting and minor in Psychology where she is expected to graduate this May. Previous credits include Rachel (Reckless), Puck (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and Madame Armfeldt (A Little Night Music) at the Arizona Repertory Theatre.
Joseph McGrath (Singing Peasant) is Co-Founder and Artistic Director for The Rogue Theatre and has appeared in Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Merchant of Venice, Waiting for Godot, Jerusalem, Awake and Sing, Arcadia, Measure for Measure, Richard III, The Night Heron, Journey to the West, The Winter’s Tale, The New Electric Ballroom, Shipwrecked!, Major Barbara, New-Found-Land, Old Times, The Tempest, Ghosts, Naga Mandala, Othello, Krapp’s Last Tape, A Delicate Balance (2009 Mac Award for Best Actor), Animal Farm, Orlando, Happy Days, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Red Noses, The Goat, The Cherry Orchard, The Good Woman of Setzuan, Endymion, The Dead, and The Fever. Joe is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama and has toured with John Houseman’s Acting Company. He has performed with the Utah Shakespearean Festival and has been a frequent performer with Ballet Tucson appearing in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and for seventeen years as Herr Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker. He has also performed with Arizona Theatre Company, Arizona Opera, and Arizona Onstage. Joe owns, with his wife Regina Gagliano, Sonora Theatre Works, which produces theatrical scenery and draperies.
	Kathleen McGrath (Singing Peasant) is making her first appearance at The Rogue Theatre, having recently moved to Tucson after 39 years in New York City. Her career began in the far away ‘70s on tour with the show troupe of the Bicentennial Pilgrimage to Pennsylvania, where she married writer and director Jerry James. She has performed a broad array of musical and non-musical roles in and around New York. Highlights include Rizzo in the national company of Grease, Anne in Garland Wright’s LORT production of A Little Night Music, and The Plaintiff in the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players’ Off-Off Broadway production of Trial by Jury. Even though their daughter Rachel James is still ensconced in New York City, Kathleen and Jerry are looking forward to many happy years in Tucson.
Nathan Oppenheimer (Singing Peasant) is a fourth year student at the University of Arizona and is honored to be taking part in his third play with The Rogue, having appeared last season as Balthazar in The Merchant of Venice and Lee in Jerusalem. While working on his degree in Theater and Creative Writing, Nathan has taken part in in Arizona Repertory Theatre’s productions of Cymbeline (Arviragus), The Fantasticks (Mortimer) and A Midsummer Nights Dream (Moonshine). He is also an active member of the University’s only short form improvisation troupe, The Charles Darwin Experience.

Miguel Urbina (viola) and Jake Sorgen (guitar) with Kathleen McGrath, Grace Kirkpatrick,
Nathan Oppenheimer, Connor Foster and Joseph McGrath as the singing peasants

Photo by Tim Fuller

 

Music
Guitar		Jake Sorgen
Viola		Miguel Urbina

 

Preshow
Säg mig den vägen som drager till livet (Trad. Swedish) The Mason's Apron (Trad. Scottish) Säg, o minns du i tysta kvällen (Trad. Swedish) The Wooden Spoon and the Apron (Trad. Scottish) Ingen hinner fram till den eviga ron (Trad. Swedish)

Music Director’s Notes

The Naturalism of Strindberg’s world presents an interesting musical challenge. Indeed traditional underscoring and musical passages as storytelling tools—as they are often utilized at The Rogue—do not fit with the stark reality Strindberg wants his audience to feel present in. But Strindberg has also given a gift to theatrical musicians in setting the story’s events on the celebratory and musically rich Midsummer Eve. The music heard throughout the first part of the play creates this holiday atmosphere as a sharp contrast to the tension and discretion of the infringed-upon servant’s quarters. The pre-show music also seeks to emulate and prepare you for the “upstairs/downstairs” dichotomy that Strindberg plays with. Our violist, Miguel Urbina, and I have prepared a repertoire that is at times jovial and festive and at others somber and pained. My deep thanks to Miguel for his talent and input and my fellow Singing Peasants for their enduring commitment to have a grand ol’ time! —Jake Sorgen, Music Director and Composer

 

	Jake Sorgen (Music Direction) was music director for By the Bog of Cats, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Merchant of Venice, The Lady in the Looking Glass, Waiting for Godot, Jerusalem and Awake and Sing at The Rogue Theatre, and has performed as a musician at The Rogue in Purgatorio and Betrayal. Jake is a musician/composer originally from Woodstock, New York. Trained as both a guitarist and saxophonist, Jake has performed on numerous plucked string and wind instruments in styles including Medieval, Baroque, Classical, American and European folk, jazz, and contemporary improvisation. As a solo artist Jake has released two albums, Sudden Myth in 2012 and In Transit in 2013, and in 2012 Jake composed the score for Rareworks Theatre’s productions of Lovers and By the Bog of Cats. A forthcoming album of lyrical songs and a new instrumental work are both due out in 2016. Jake Sorgen’s music direction is supported in part by a generous gift from David Morden.
Miguel Urbina (Viola) is a first timer at The Rogue for Miss Julie, and is thrilled to be able to collaborate with such talented artists. With an originally classical background, he is passionate about exploring all the different ways the lesser-known viola can fit into different artistic mediums and ensembles. He is also currently a member of the local Tucson psychedelic rock outfit, The Myrrors.

 

Marissa Garcia as Miss Julie and Matt Bowdren as Jean

 

Matt Bowdren as Jean and Holly Griffith as Kristine

Photos by Tim Fuller

 

Designers
Costume Design		Cynthia Meier
Costume design is supported in part by a generous gift from John Wahl & Mary Lou Forier.
Scenic Design		Joseph McGrath
Lighting Design		Deanna Fitzgerald*
Production Staff
Stage Manager		Christopher Johnson**
Scenic Artist		Amy Novelli
Set Construction		Christopher Johnson & Joseph McGrath
Costume Construction		Cynthia Meier & Barbara Tanzillo
Properties Master		Christopher Johnson
Master Electrician		Peter Bleasby
Lighting Crew		Brie Gonzalez, Connor Greene, Inga Kalvaitis, Reinold Kellici, Domino Mannheim & Patrick McClanahan
Choral Rehearsal Director		Richard Hintze
House Manager		Susan Collinet
Assistant House Manager		Leigh Moyer & Elizabeth Schloss
Box Office Manager		Thomas Wentzel
Box Office Assistants		Kara Clauser, Holly Griffith & Rebekah Thimlar
Program Advertising		Paul Winick
Poster, Program & Website		Thomas Wentzel
*Represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA 829 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
**Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

 

	Deanna Fitzgerald (Lighting Design) is a Lighting Designer and member of United Scenic Artists Local 829, as well as an associate professor and resident lighting designer at the University of Arizona. Deanna is particularly interested in material that is without spoken word, as well as the relationship between contemplative practices and creativity, and its impact on the human experience.  Recent designs include the lighting designs of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Waiting for Godot and Jerusalem at The Rogue Theatre, Cirque Mechanics: Boom Town, which toured for 2 years with an off-Broadway appearance at The New Victory Theatre, and the North American tour of Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo. She designed the lighting for the world premiere STOMP OUT LOUD, the Las Vegas version of the internationally acclaimed STOMP. Other career highlights include 6 years as the Lighting Director on the International Tour of STOMP; Production Director of the Opera Theater Music Festival in Lucca, Italy; Lighting Supervisor/Assistant Lighting Designer at the Santa Fe Opera; Lighting and Tour Consultant for the Original Broadway Cast tours of the Greater Tuna trilogy. Deanna welcomes you to experience more of her work at www.deannafitzgerald.com.
Christopher Johnson (Stage Manager) is an Artistic Associate and General Manager for The Rogue, where he has appeared in Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The Merchant of Venice, Jerusalem, Purgatorio, Richard III, Mother Courage and Her Children, The Night Heron, Journey to the West, The Winter’s Tale, and As I Lay Dying. Stage managing credits include productions of Oleanna, Steel Magnolias, Angel Street, The Importance of Being Earnest, Moon Over Buffalo, Cowboy Mouth, two seasons of The Arizona Friends of Chamber Music Winter Festival, and The Rogue’s productions of By the Bog of Cats and The Lady in the Looking Glass.
	Peter Bleasby (Master Electrician) lit his first show at 13, using near-lethal home-made equipment.  Professionally, he was with BBC-TV for several years, and then was an assistant to UK lighting designer Richard Pilbrow, including the inaugural production at the National Theatre in London (Hamlet, directed by Olivier). He later transferred to the general lighting industry, handling projects ranging from major sports stadia to cathedrals, but maintained his theatre interests by lighting innumerable shows on both sides of the Atlantic.  When the Rogue established itself at The Historic Y in 2009, he volunteered for the initial lighting “hang,” returning in 2013 to work with lighting designer Don Fox and later with Deanna Fitzgerald.  For the 2014-15 season, he planned and supervised the installation of an extensive permanent wiring system that enables the lighting crews to devote more time to the creative process.  In Tucson, he also directs the technical and logistical aspects of Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation fundraisers, including the fashion show Moda Provocateur.
Susan Collinet (House Manager) earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Creative Writing and English Literature from the University of Arizona in 2008. Decades before returning to college as a non-traditional student, Susan spent twenty years in amateur theater, mostly on the East coast, as well as in Brussels, Belgium in the American Theater of Brussels, and the Theatre de Chenois in Waterloo. She has worked in such positions as a volunteer bi-lingual guide in the Children’s Museum of Brussels, the Bursar of a Naturopathic Medical school in Tempe, Arizona, an entrepreneur with two “Susan’s of Scottsdale” hotel gift shops in Scottsdale, Arizona, and as the volunteer assistant Director of Development of the Arizona Aids Project in Phoenix. Susan continues to work on collections of poetry and non-fiction. Her writing has won awards from Sandscript Magazine, the John Hearst Poetry Contest, the Salem College for Women’s Center for Writing, and was published in a Norton Anthology of Student’s Writing. In addition to being House Manager, Susan serves on the Board of Directors and acts as Volunteer Coordinator for the Rogue.

Our Thanks
Tim Fuller		Tucson Weekly
Chuck Graham		Patrick Baliani
Arizona Daily Star		Shawn Burke
Judy Wallingford		Shannon Wallace
Chris Babbie		John M. Wilson
Norma Davenport		Our Advertisers
Arizona Theatre Company

 

Matt Bowdren as Jean and Holly Griffith as Kristine

 

Matt Bowdren as Jean and Holly Griffith as Kristine

Photos by Tim Fuller

 

 

Performance Schedule for Miss Julie

Location: The Rogue Theatre at The Historic Y, 300 East University Boulevard
Click here for information on free off-street parking

Performance run time of Miss Julie is one hour and thirty-five minutes. There is no intermission.
Run time does not include the music preshow beginning 15 minutes before curtiain, or post-show discussion.

Thursday, February 25, 2016, 7:30 pm DISCOUNT PREVIEW
Friday, February 26, 2016, 7:30 pm DISCOUNT PREVIEW
Saturday, February 27, 2016, 7:30 pm OPENING NIGHT
Sunday, February 28, 2016, 2:00 pm matinee SOLD OUT

Thursday, March 3, 2016, 7:30 pm
Friday, March 4, 2016, 7:30 pm
Saturday, March 5, 2016, 2:00 pm
Saturday, March 5, 2016, 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 6, 2016, 2:00 pm matinee SOLD OUT

Thursday, March 10, 2016, 7:30 pm
Friday, March 11, 2016, 7:30 pm
Saturday, March 12, 2016, 2:00 pm matinee
Saturday, March 12, 2016, 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 13, 2016, 2:00 pm matinee

 

Marissa Garcia as Miss Julie

 

Matt Bowdren as Jean, Marissa Garcia as Miss Julie and Holly Griffith as Kristine

Photos by Tim Fuller