he play was written as Strindberg was creating a new theatre of his own: The Scandinavian Naturalistic Theatre, which would be founded in Copenhagen. Miss Julie would be the premier offering. Strindberg’s wife, Siri von Essen, would star in the title role, and she would also be the artistic director. After Strindberg agreed to a small amount of censorship, the play was published a few weeks before the first production. (The first English translations also contain these censored excisions. For example, the first audiences were spared the shock of hearing Miss Julie, in an angry moment, compare making love to Jean to an act of bestiality.) With disastrous timing for the new theatre, the censors announced during the dress rehearsal, that Miss Julie would be forbidden. However, Strindberg managed to get around the censors by having Miss Julie premiered a few days later at the Copenhagen University Student Union.[5][6]