The House Party - (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A wild party. A friendship. A cherished pet. And a night that changes everything.

It's Julie's eighteenth birthday, and she's throwing a party in her father's extravagant townhouse. Her boyfriend has just dumped her and her long-suffering best friend Christine is trying to pick up the pieces. As the revelers pile into the booze, down in the kitchen Christine and her boyfriend Jon--son of Julie's cleaner--clear up and dare to dream of the future. But as the volume goes up and the shots go down, Julie concocts a twisted cocktail of privilege, desire and destruction.

The House Party spins Strindberg's classic play Miss Julie into intense, fizzing life for today's generation.

Review Quotes

"Dazzling...brings Strindberg's classic searing into the 21st century, a blazing hot ménage à trois that transforms the stage into a cauldron of desire, resentment and revenge."

--BroadwayWorld

"Fresh, ferociously intense and visually striking...this searing, emotionally charged adaptation puts a convincing contemporary twist on the dark story of class conflict, self-destruction and seething sexual tension."
--The Stage

"Laura Lomas has brought the classic play bang up to date...bracingly relevant and searingly shocking."

--WhatsOnStage

"Crackles with energy...Laura Lomas's contemporary take on Miss Julie is a zesty tangle of desire and resentment...a compelling dance towards disaster."

--The Times

"A rollercoaster evening...The House Party isn't afraid to tackle issues that teenagers are faced with today."

--Theatre & Tonic

"Fast-paced and full of tension...brings into sharp focus the original's themes of class, power, and privilege that remain as relevant today as ever."

--All That Dazzles

"A truly visceral theatrical experience...wonderfully captures the messiness of youth and the dark side of desire."

--West End Best Friend

About the Author

Laura Lomas is a playwright and screenwriter. Her plays include: The House Party, after August Strindberg's Miss Julie (Chichester Festival Theatre / Headlong / Frantic Assembly, 2024); Metamorphoses, co-written with Sami Ibrahim and Sabrina Mahfouz, after Ovid (Shakespeare's Globe, 2021); Chaos (National Theatre Connections); Bird (Root Theatre and Echo); Blister (Paines Pough / Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama); The Island (Nottingham Playhouse / Det Norske Oslo); Gypsy Girl (Paines Plough, later at Soho); and Wasteland (New Perspectives / Derby Theatre; shortlisted for the Brian Way Award). Her radio plays include My Boy (BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play; Bronze SONY Award for best radio drama) and Lucy Island (BBC Radio 3). Her screen work includes Rough Skin (Touchpaper/Channel 4; shortlisted for Best British Short at British Independent Film Awards and Raindance Film Festival).

August Strindberg (1849-1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. His plays include The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), To Damascus (1898), The Dance of Death (1900), A Dream Play (1902), and The Ghost Sonata (1908).