Stage spotlight: 'After Miss Julie'

Opening: This play by Patrick Marber, which takes off from the classic Strindberg drama, takes place entirely in the servants' kitchen. So Gremlin Theatre has brought its production into the kitchen of the James J. Hill House, now a historic landmark on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. Anna Sundberg and Peter Christian Hansen, who each received Ivey Awards this year, are in the cast, along with Amanda Whisner. Leah Cooper directs. Marber puts the story about sex and class into an English manse in 1945. Julie is the high-class woman who dares to stir her passions with John, the chauffeur.

Opening: Bradley Greenwald won Ivey recognition for his performance in this show five years ago. He returns to the Jungle Theater as Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a transvestite who survived the German Nazi and Communist regimes while maintaining a museum of antiques and everyday trinkets. The release of documents after the fall of communism raised questions about whether she was an agent for the secret police. Doug Wright wrote this Pulitzer Prize and Tony winner. Joel Sass directs Greenwald, who portrays more than 30 characters.