After sterling work in TV comedy, Marber leapt to the top of the pile of young British playwrights with his successes Dealer’s Choice and especially Closer - the latter also a Broadway production starring Anna Friel.

Marber was asked to supply a straight translation of Strindberg’s class-war classic Miss Julie, but found himself intrigued by the notion of what might happen if the action (a serving-man seduces his female employer, with disastrous consequences) took place in July 1945. It was, of course, a period in which their was supposedly a new freedom in society, but in Marber’s re imagining Miss Julie and her father’s chauffeur find themselves testing the outer limits of that concept.

Donmar artistic director Michael Grandage directs. The starry cast includes Helen Baxendale (best known for her turn as Emily in TV’s “Friends”), Richard Coyle (Brit sitcom “Coupling”) and Kelly Reilly (who recently starred opposite Minnie Driver, Matthew Perry and Hank Azaria in a West End staging of David Mamet’s Sexual Perversity In Chicago).

Bunny Christie designs the production, with Neil Austin on lighting duty and Matt McKenzie on sound. The production is sponsored by the Laura Pels Foundation.

The Donmar Theatre is in Covent Garden (Neal Street). For ticket information call (0)870 060 6624, or visit www.donmarwarehouse.com(http://www.donmarwarehouse.com/).