Review: Julius Caesar

Christ's Amateur Dramatics Society’s ‘radical re-imagining’ of Julius Caesar is a reconstruction of the predominantly male play, with Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony played by women. Directors Gabriel Wheble and Jamie Sayers chose to alter the original Shakespeare, swapping all the lines referring to Caesar and Mark Anthony to she/her pronouns. Despite being initially disorientating for audience members who were familiar with the text, it soon became clear that this was a directorial decision to diversify the male dominated cast.

This was probably the most ‘radical’ aspect of the production: the staging, costumes and set were minimal, leaving the actors with the bare bones of the language. Indeed, the performances reflected this attention to the intricacies of the play, with stand-out moments from practically all the cast members. In particular, Gabriel Wheble demonstrated dexterous handling of Cassius’ manipulative rhetoric, whilst Theo Collins moved between characters flawlessly. Lisa Delamarre’s Portia was a moving and intimate portrayal of an abandoned wife, which mesmerised the audience.

Photo: Cerian Craske

The crowd scenes were not as successful in achieving the authenticity that individual performances sought to create. The crowd’s shouts during Mark Anthony’s speech in Act 2 drowned out his words, and often left one member of the cast speaking when the rest had finished, jarring the scene’s momentum. The multiple fights were well choreographed, although I almost felt that the red lighting was used to cover up mistakes as opposed to adding atmosphere.

Lighting was altogether one of the play’s biggest letdowns. The small, enclosed space of Corpus Playroom means that strong lighting is extremely vivid for the audience, who are practically sitting onstage. The use of torches in several of the night-time scenes actually created too much darkness, forcing the audience to squint as they held on to Brutus’ soliloquy and jump as the stage lights finally blazed again. Nevertheless, the old-fashioned slide projector – used by Cassius to scribble his feigned letters – was an imaginative addition which could have been used more.

Photo: Cerian Craske

Strange helicopter sounds were used during Mark Anthony’s speech at Caesar’s death, which initially created tension and then became repetitive. The other sound used was minimal but effective in its industrial coldness. The murder itself was well executed (haha) and I immediately noted down ‘Grim! Shivers up spine!’ a testament to the violence of the scene. The enactment of Brutus’ suicide was also moving, as he collapsed in an embrace with Dardanius.

This production showed huge talent and commitment to Shakespeare’s language, which thankfully overshadowed its flaws. Although directorial decisions were rather unimaginative – perhaps due to the fact that both directors were also playing the lead roles – the momentum of the play was held up by the impressive energy and focus of the actors.

4/5

Cover: Beth Kelly