(Rated 7/5 )
Wow, wow and wow again to such a compelling production of William Shakespeare’s political thriller. It starts with a rock concert involving many of the actors including David Morrissey (Mark Antony) singing and Fred Fergus (Lucius) on guitar. Lots of fun and really got us going and into the tone of this modern production – which, without any alterations to Shakespeare’s original words – aside from cutting play-length – hinted so much to the struggles of our times. Julius Caesar (David Calder) is the popular dictator with a red baseball cap and slogan ‘Do This!’ – worshipped and adored by the masses. Ben Whishaw’s Marcus Brutus comes across as an intellectual Liberal – caught in a dilemma as to what action or inaction is best to achieve democracy – we could see him fighting anything he feels would do damage to the good of the people in spite of what they have been wooed to believe - Brexit J Michelle Fairley plays Caius Cassius and is such a wonderful double-act with Ben Whishaw. They feel like brother and sister though I imagine for Shakespeare they weren’t siblings and of course in his time would have been played by a man. In this production there is a lovely balance of men and women. And all in all it feels far more emotional, personal and engaging than any other production of this I remember seeing. OK well to be fair I don’t remember the only other production of this which I have seen, but maybe that in itself says a great deal. My theatre companion at the time found it very dull.
Wow, wow and wow again to such a compelling production of William Shakespeare’s political thriller. It starts with a rock concert involving many of the actors including David Morrissey (Mark Antony) singing and Fred Fergus (Lucius) on guitar. Lots of fun and really got us going and into the tone of this modern production – which, without any alterations to Shakespeare’s original words – aside from cutting play-length – hinted so much to the struggles of our times. Julius Caesar (David Calder) is the popular dictator with a red baseball cap and slogan ‘Do This!’ – worshipped and adored by the masses. Ben Whishaw’s Marcus Brutus comes across as an intellectual Liberal – caught in a dilemma as to what action or inaction is best to achieve democracy – we could see him fighting anything he feels would do damage to the good of the people in spite of what they have been wooed to believe - Brexit J Michelle Fairley plays Caius Cassius and is such a wonderful double-act with Ben Whishaw. They feel like brother and sister though I imagine for Shakespeare they weren’t siblings and of course in his time would have been played by a man. In this production there is a lovely balance of men and women. And all in all it feels far more emotional, personal and engaging than any other production of this I remember seeing. OK well to be fair I don’t remember the only other production of this which I have seen, but maybe that in itself says a great deal. My theatre companion at the time found it very dull.
The staging in this production is extraordinary and so
exciting. Bridge theatre is an amazing space. Similarly to Shakespeare’s Globe
there is seating in the round and then members of the audience can also stand
around the stage. In this production’s performance the pieces of stage move
scene to scene – coming out of and then disappearing back into the floor. Standing
members of the audience are guided to locations required and also to participate
as appropriate as though being members of the crowd welcoming a victorious
Caesar home, senators, soldiers involved in battle etc. If I were more able I
would have loved to be a standing audience person ;)
I didn’t used to be very political and maybe I enjoyed it
more as it relates so much to our time too and the serious issues we are
facing. But without that I still think it’s very good!
The talent in all areas of this production is so, so strong. Sheer
impressive excellence.
I highly recommend it!
Julius Caesar – Review by TheRestrictedReviewer © 2018
