Christchurch production of “Miss Julie” in May

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32902, 28 April 1972, Page 4

Christchurch production of “Miss Julie” in May

“Miss Julie” by August Strindberg has been adapted for television by Michael Noonan and Murray Reece from a new translation by Mari Ann Wendler Irving. A young woman’s flirtation with her

father’s manservant leads to tragedy. A year or so ago, an N.Z.B.C. television production of Strindberg’s “Miss Julie” might well have seemed far too ambitious to viewers who knew their drama. This year notwithstanding “Pukemanu” and “Section 7", the discerning viewer could still be forgiven for having his doubts about a local production of this demanding play. “Miss Julie” is, however, scheduled for screening on May 8 from WNTVI and other channels in succeeding weeks. Mari Ann Wendler Irving of Dunedin wrote this new translation for the N.Z.8.C., it was adapted for television by Michael Noonan and Murray Reece, and Murray Reece also produced it in the Christchui'ch studios of the N.Z.B.C. Noonan and Reece had to convert the play to the television medium by eliminating obvious theatrical contrivances without losing sight of Strindberg’s original intention. There were any number of problems — the stage version is restricted to a single set because Strindberg wanted to give the impression of continuous time, whereas the adaptors felt the setting could be expanded to include both indoor and outdoor settings without losing the claustrophobic atmosphere which is such an important part of this drama. The language of the play provided problems too; problems related to the period and conventions of nine-teenth-century drama. When he wrote “Miss Julie”, Strindberg had what was then an advanced idea; his

dialogue was a serious attempt at natural speech. However, by today’s standards, it tends to sound overdrawn and overstated. Sometimes the characters sound unnecessarily ponderous, sometimes embarrassingly naive. The adaptors had to decide what could be better expressed in paraphrase or, with the assistance of the television camera, without words at all. Concentration on visual details with considerable precision is the camera’s great advantage and the adaptors tried to utilise this to complement and sometimes replace parts of the dialogue.

The play was produced at the Christchurch studios of the N.Z.B.C. and on location. The adaptors set the play in 1880—in Sweden of course-— and suitable outdoor settings in and around Christchurch were not the easiest places to find. The grounds of the “Ham” homestead were fine for rehearsals but twentieth century noise bedevilled the crew in their search for film locations.

Extraneous modem traffic noises were the chief problems. At first they thought they could beat the traffic if cast and crew were collected at 4.30 a-m. and ready for

he now finds invaluable. He worked in a cardboard factory for a year, tried freelance art work, made concrete posts, was a softfurnishing salesman (“incredibly boring"), and a post-

cameras at 5 a.m. “But we weren’t early enough, and every time we got to the location the sounds drove us mad,” recalls Murray Reece. This was particularly hard on Pam Ferris, who is not a “morning” person. Twice she

stayed up all night in order to begin the three-hour business of arranging her hair, make-up and costume at 2 a.m. in order to be ready and alert at 5 a.m. Then they moved to an-1 other location, further out ofi town, only to find that what they had lost in the way of surface traffic noises was more than compensated for by those from the air—they were practically beside Wigram. Desperate, they eventually rang the commander who couldn’t have been more co-operative. Some aircraft were actually grounded for “Miss Julie” and various helicopters diverted out over the sea. In the resulting unaccustomed quiet (“apart from a few sheep and magpie sounds”) filming of the outdoor sequences finally took place with the understanding co-operation of the R.N.Z.A.F. Pam Ferris plays the title role by arrangement with Mercury Theatre. Already well-known to Auckland audiences, her appearance in “Miss Julie” will give audiences in the rest of the country a chance to see this talented actress, who has now gone to Europe to further her career in the theatre. Her home is in Christchurch. “Miss Julie” provides Bill Stalker as the manservant Jean with his second television role. His first was as the leader of the motor-cycle gang in the first episode of “Pukemanu.” He has acted and directed in various stage plays and lives in Christchurch. Judie Douglasse as Christine likewise makes her second television appearance in this production. She is a well-known Christchurch actress and was formerly a “Town and Around” reporter for CHTV3.

The translator, Mari Ann Wendler Irving, lives in Dunedin. She is Swedish by birth. A chance meeting with William Austin, Head of Drama for the N.Z.8.C., resulted in her being commissioned to do this translation of the play. Murray Reece’s New Zealand parents were living in the United Kingdom when he was born and the family didn’t return till he was sixteen which meant Christ’s College for a couple of years before trying to decide on a career. He thought of zoology (“I think I had visions of collecting animals in South America’’), while his head-

master thought he’d make a reasonable artist or a damned poor scientist. "I think he was wrong, but I’m grateful now,” says Murray, who began by trying out two advertising agencies which he hated. Someone suggested an art school, but he wasn’t quite sure, so embarked on a series of jobs which gave him a diversity of experience which

man off and on. He enjoyed the factory but the only job he’d choose to go back to is postman (“Marvellous job in Christchurch, you’d never get an ulcer”). However, he is unlikely to return to the postal service. He took his Diploma in Fine Arts painting at the Canterbury University’s School of Fine Arts, then was accepted as a trainee cameraman for both the National Film Unit and the N.Z.B.C. Undecided, he flipped a coin which fell in favour of the N.Z.B.C.

After three years as a cameraman in Wellington and Christchurch he went successfully through the production training course. He produced two episodes of “Pukemanu” the first (about the bikies), and the third, about the school-teacher posted to Pukemanu. He wrote as well as produced the outstanding “Survey” programme “Time Out” and is now engaged on the second series of “Pukemanu.” No longer undecided, TV drama is what he wants to go on doing. A good working script is the basic necessity for TV drama as far as he is concerned. He enjoyed working with Michael Noonan on the adaptation for “Miss Julie” and also spent a whole day just talking about Sweden and the Swedes as people with Mari Ann Wendler Irving and found this a great help in building up the general background of the play. “It’s an exciting play and I found the production a wonderful experience,” he says.