Leeds Playhouse – until 1 March 2025
Reviewed by Gretel Price
5*****
The House Party spins Strindberg’s classic play Miss Julie into an intense but enthusiastic portrayal of young adult life for today’s generation. Beautifully written by the wonderful Laura Loman and directed by the fantastic Holly Race Roughan, it stars three incredible performers: Synnove Karlsen (as Julie), Sesley Hope (as Christine) and Tom Lewis (as Jon) in which all actors played their characters immaculately as believable teenagers. The House Party managed to capture a realistic portrayal of modern life, despite originally being an older play from 1888, showcasing not only the perks of pop culture but delving into deeper themes such as the psychological trauma, class, sexuality and social expectations of young adult life.
The cast thrived in capturing the chaotic energy of youth, with the central trio delivering compelling and believable performances. Synnove Karlsen presented an outstanding portrayal of the complicated but charming protagonist ‘Julie’, who was both pitied and disliked through the play. From her typically teenage style of ‘tights and t-shirts’ (designed by Maybelle Laye) to her youthful demeanour, Synnove was an obvious pick for the role, capturing the essence of a troubled teenage girl. Likewise, both Sesley Hope (Christine) and Tom Lewis (Jon) accurately exhibited a lovable teenage romance, which unfortunately unfolds before our eyes into a toxic betrayal. Sesley, successfully builds up Christine’s loyal nature and obvious compassion for others (especially Julie), allowing her to be easily sympathised in moments of distress. All while Lewis does the opposite and reveals Jon’s true character – an internally conflicted adolescent– demonstrated visibly in his body language towards either Christine or Julie and ultimately ruining his relationship with both characters from his ignorance and duplicity. Although as an audience, we can understand their actions as young adults trying to survive in a modern world.
Frantic Assembly’s direction to create visually impressive movement sequences brought the idea of a vibrant and chaotic party to life. The sudden innovative movements of the ensemble (from the works of movement director Scott Graham) forced the audience to feel both overwhelmed and excited with the thrilling dynamism and life brought to the stage. We were also forced to feel confined within the house – like the characters on stage – trapped with their individual struggles. Within these scenes, the audience were captivated throughout, in awe of the motion before our eyes, accompanied by energetic and upbeat music and the vibrant lights – courtesy of the excellent sound designer Giles Thomas and exceptional lighting designer Joseph Hornsby.
However, the true standout of the evening was the way these same techniques were used to create the harrowing imagery of Julie’s attempted suicide alongside young Christine’s final dance during the song ‘when the party’s over’ by Billie Eilish, creating a solemn and poignant conclusion to a series of ill-fated events. The use of staging by remarkable set designer Loren Elstein successfully conveyed intense emotion when we saw the dreams played out on screen, almost as if we could see inside the character’s heads.
Despite being aimed towards teenagers the play also makes itself accessible to a wider audience by incorporating different and darker themes into the narrative such as Christine and Julie’s strained relationship with their mothers. As a young adult myself, I found the play to be relatable depiction of teenage relationships, representing prevalent themes within modern life on an exaggerated scale. I would highly recommend The House Party as it was an enjoyable, unique and modernised execution of Miss Julie, which I believe to be more engaging and fitting for today.