Julius Caesar

Synopsis

Victorious and valiant, yet proud and tyrannical, Julius Caesar is murdered by his closest allies. But the assassination divides Rome and bitter war begins.

Our Review:

27 May 2009

The auspices for Lucy Bailey’s Royal Shakespeare Company directorial debut were good, following her two well-received Greco-Roman productions at Shakespeare's Globe – a quirky Timon of Athens with bungee-cord vultures and liberal flinging of excrement, and a thunderous Titus Andronicus which quickly became notorious for its daily round of pukers and collapsers in the audience.

It comes as something of a disappointment, then, to see that her new production of Julius Caesar channels some of the trappings of her former conceptual flair, but fails to use them to incite or inspire the audience. Worryingly, also, the production exposes the fact that the new ensemble, three months into its two-and-a-half year tenure, seems to be failing to cohere.

A pre-show vignette sees a dirt-streaked, scantily-clad Romulus and Remus wrestling around the stage, growling and snarling at each other, until Romulus finally kills his brother with a bite...

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Latest User Review

Jim Waite - 27 June 2009:

This production was a great disappointment. Fresh from the triumphant 'Winter's Tale' we expected great things from the Roman play, and the opening was promising, with the wolf-like Romulus and Remus snarling and tearing at each other, followed by a splendid lupercal with a vivid combination of projected crowds and energetic movement. There the pleasure largely ended. The projections went on and on and on, distractingly, in the background throughout the first half, waving their arms during the big set piece speeches as if attending a 'Take That' concert, and the crowd sounds seeemed to bear little relation to what was being said. Too much technology, not enough Shakespeare. Casting was odd, too, with Cassius in particular appearing ill at ease and flatly monotoned at all times - even when dying. Brutus was played like a sixth-former out of his depth, eyes like a startled rabbit, at times muttering his lines inaudibly. 'Noble'? Hardly. These two killed the play's momentum and left the conspiracy with all the tension of a team meeting before their Saturday bowls match. Their motivation never really emerged clearly. After the interval it was worse. Incoherent, fragmented, never in the least moving, the cast banged their shields together and roared energetically without it being clear what they were fighting for. I was glad when it ended. On the plus side, Mark Antony was vigorous and delivered his great speech movingly in spite of the background distractions. Julius Caesar made the most of his limited opportunities; appearing far more noble and sympathetic than any of his opponents - why they wanted to kill him was a little mysterious. All in all, well below the standard one expects of the RSC. I had the feeling that the director had paid too much attention to inappropriate technical effects and too little to the actors. ...

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