WESTERN FRONT – Miss July

Description:

Miss July is Robert Kleyn’s adaptation of August Strindberg’s play Miss Julie (1888). A triangular room was constructed in the gallery, functioning both as the set for a performance of Strindberg’s play and as an installation piece. The actors were Lin Bennett, Glen Thompson, and Kitty Byrne, with original music by Rodney Graham based on Schoenberg’s “Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op. 4” (1899).

Kleyn’s production lasted approximately fifty-five minutes, during which the events of an entire twelve hours are played out. The action takes place on midsummer night while the labourers of an estate hold a traditional pagan feast. While the labourers are dancing outside, Miss July, the butler, and the cook carry on their own erotic ritual in the kitchen of the mansion, a ritual based on the transcendence of dichotomies: strong/weak, master/servant, love/hate.

In keeping with Strindberg’s ideals of an “intimate theatre,” the audience was limited to 30 people at each performance.

Video documentation is available upon request.

A triangular hallway opens up to a small table with seating for two. A performer dressed in a white shirt and suspenders slouches at the table as another performer dressed in a black talks down to them.

In a room segmented by askew walls, two performers dress in preparation to leave the domestic scene. Occupying a shadow constructed by walls, a performer wearing a black dress and matching hat, holds up a wire cage. Another performer stands in the light buttoning up a white shirt.

A performer sits at a small dining table tilting their head back to be cushioned by the hands of another actor wearing an apron. A light shines on the scene, illuminating the performers and darkening two onlookers into silhouettes.

A performer leans back, letting their head drape over the back of a massage chair. Another performer checks on them, holding the sitter's face in their hands, while one more actor looms as a shadow down the hallway.

An actor in a black dress holds a glass of dark liquid while looking at the empty chair across the table. Another performer, on the other side of the room, stands in front of a mirror.

At the end of an illuminated hallway stands a performer dressed in a bellboy jacket. Another, dressed in a black dress, unable to see them, watches a kettle on the stove.

A performer in a dark dress and hat sits at a table looking at a similarly dressed performer standing above them. Another performer in suspenders fiddles with the stove behind them.

Two performers are separated by a dish holding two upright black boots. One performer rests their eye on a small sculpture mounted to the wall while the other waits, holding something in their hand.

An actor in a suit leans away from the wall holding one hand in the other. They glance down at the feet of another performer who has their face tucked into their palms.

Two performers interact around a table while another lounges in the hall extending their heeled foot into the light. At the table, performers maintain rigid posture while locking eyes.

An angular room with bright overhead lights and dark baseboards. A stove with a kettle, a table, a massage chair, and a small sculpture resembling a kitchen scale occupy the space.

Related People

Captions:

Robert Kleyn, Miss July, photo documentation, Jun 7, 1976.
Robert Kleyn, Miss July, photo documentation, Jun 7, 1976.
Robert Kleyn, Miss July, photo documentation, Jun 7, 1976.
Robert Kleyn, Miss July, photo documentation, Jun 7, 1976.
Robert Kleyn, Miss July, photo documentation, Jun 7, 1976.
Robert Kleyn, Miss July, photo documentation, Jun 7, 1976.
Robert Kleyn, Miss July, photo documentation, Jun 7, 1976.
Robert Kleyn, Miss July, photo documentation, Jun 7, 1976.
Robert Kleyn, Miss July, photo documentation, Jun 7, 1976.
Robert Kleyn, Miss July, photo documentation, Jun 7, 1976.
Robert Kleyn, Miss July, photo documentation, Jun 7, 1976.

Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.