They Smile In Your Face, All The Time They Want To Take Your Place | Rick Roberts (pictured here with Melissa MacPherson) plays history's most famous backstabber in Julius Caesar.
DETAILS
JULIUS CAESAR
Directed by James MacDonald. Written by William Shakespeare. Starring Rick Roberts, John Kirkpatrick, Blair Williams, Ashley Wright. Maclab Theatre, The Citadel. To Mar 15. Tickets available through the Citadel box office (425-1820)
***1/2
Productions of Shakespeare can be a tough sell, not because they are sometimes lengthy and dense but rather due to the fact that they don’t always put a distinctive spin on the material. The Citadel’s production of Julius Caesar, meanwhile, is memorable precisely because of the adventurous manner in which the play is adapted.
The story, of course, builds up to the assassination of Julius Caesar (Ashley Wright) by a group of conspirators led by self-proclaimed patriots Brutus (Rick Roberts) and Cassius (John Kirkpatrick), acting in what they believe to be Rome’s best interests. However, the assassination scene occurs halfway through the play, leaving Shakespeare time — some would say too much time — to explore the fallout from Caesar’s death.
The absence of Caesar from the second half is particularly glaring in this production because Wright so superbly expresses Caesar’s steadily increasing ego. Wright strides with such self-absorbed confidence toward his demise that you practically want to shout, “Told you so!” when the first dagger plunges into him. Luckily director James MacDonald has more restraint than I do; he allows the assassination scene to unfold in a very natural way. None of the actors exaggerate their actions, letting the death create its own significance.
The scene’s subtlety is also noteworthy because of how it departs from Bretta Gerecke’s set design, which otherwise engulfs the play in a futuristic dystopian world. From the riotous street celebration of the opening scene to the elaborate wardrobe of the politicians, an entirely new Roman society is realized here. The stage appears to be a different planet: it’s as if you are watching a sci-fi movie (without the wooden acting).
Not to be ignored is the way MacDonald handles famous scene of Caesar’s funeral. An angry mob of Romans surrounds the audience while Brutus stands onstage begging them to be reasonable. It’s an immersive effect that makes you feel that Brutus is also asking for your forgiveness. When Blair Williams enters as Mark Antony to give his eulogy, laced with sarcasm and powerful rhetoric, you again feel like he is convincing you and not just the Roman people that Caesar was truly great and his murder was unjust. Williams delivers the speech with the expertise of a seasoned politician — it’s the play’s most memorable scene.
Unfortunately, after that riveting spectacle, the production loses some of its edge. When Brutus and Cassius have been exiled by the people of Rome, a war for power rages on — and the play becomes less interested in character and more in the technical aspects of how such a war would play out, leading to some awkwardly staged moments of soldiers fighting and dying in feigned slow motion.
Still, MacDonald and company must be commended for making stimulating use of one of Shakespeare’s most frequently quoted — and frequently misremembered — works. If only the battlefield exploits had been as fascinating as the political intrigue! It sounds strange to say it, but Julius Caesar needs more Caesar in it.
Post the first comment: (Login or Register)