A carcass hangs on meat hooks off to the side of the stage; this element of John McDermott's scenic design is most likely meant to invoke the rawness and visceral quality that the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's production of Miss Julie is aiming for. Using a new adaptation by playwright Craig Lucas, Anders Cato's staging of this August Strindberg classic makes the sexuality of the piece overt, yet there's less passion here than might be expected.

That's not the fault of Lucas; the language of the play feels fresher and more contemporary than in previous translations. While this version is labeled an adaptation, it does not take enormous liberties with Strindberg's original text. Set on M[...]