Reviews: ‘Mies Julie’ and ‘Dance of Death,’ Love and Madness in Strindberg

While I saw these fairly early in previews, my reactions are counter to Brantley's. I found the Dance of Death to be a vital production, and Topol's performance quite dynamic. On the other hand, I found Mies Julie disappointing, missing the furor that the original production (of this adaptation) six years ago reportedly had. That is largely due to the miscasting, as the American performers apparently focused on their accents and not much else. Kibler in particular looked like she got lost coming home from the mall.