Review: Julius Caesar

To The Top...and back
by Caitlin Murphy

Shakespeare is hard. A banal thought, but perhaps the fairest foot to put forward in reviewing a student production of Julius Caesar. The plays are long, the language is old, and sword-play is required.  Despite all of this, as well as the frustrating lack of female roles, Shakespeare remains the bench-mark of doing theatre, the Mount Everest for budding thespians. And though some make it to the top of that mountain, flag in hand, others get left at base camp, sucking back oxygen. Dawson Theatre’s Caesar has got both kinds.

In this third-year class’ production, scenic elements and design choices, though intriguing, felt under-integrated:  from the screen of static at the play’s opening, to the rapid-fire sound-bite montage of world leaders, to the Occupy Movement footage shown through intermission, to the wartime footage inserted to launch the battle scenes, and the often jarring use of projections throughout, the staging felt hodge-podge. The set appeared to offer a lot more versatility than was exploited, and the few movements it underwent felt somewhat lethargic and inelegant.  It was actually the simple creation of a tent – through several actors holding a sheath of cloth to denote its perimeter – that worked best.

The accusation that modern Shakespearean productions often face – displaying a strident interest in choices for their own sake and a lack of attention to the meaning these choices create (or don’t) – I think is fairly made here too.

The second act is exceedingly stronger than the first, mostly because at its helm is 2nd Brutus (the production chose to double/shadow-cast several key roles), Sean Colby, whose conviction and raw magnetism make him an actor to watch.  Not only does he bring needed life and drive to the production, but the chemistry he shares with 2nd Cassius (the feisty Adalia Pemberton-Smith) is palpable; Colby and Pemberton-Smith felt genuinely like two actors playing together – with and off one another – and, as a result, their scenes were electric.

The accusation that modern Shakespearean productions often face – displaying a strident interest in choices for their own sake and a lack of attention to the meaning these choices create (or don’t) – I think is fairly made here too. Due to cross-casting, gay relationships are made out of straight ones, and straight ones are made where there were none. Not only is Caesar a woman, but she’s a lesbian to boot!  Like Seinfeld, I don’t really have a problem with that, but it’s yet another example of choices (like the allusions to Occupy) feeling a bit too ‘just cause’.

Evaluating directorial decisions in student productions though can be challenging; they often read as primarily pragmatic: needed to give more people more stuff to do. The choice to have shadow characters (effectively double casting) certainly gave more actors access to plum roles, but it was a convention that was difficult to establish and I’m not sure ever quite paid off.  Also, attempts to involve the chorus through background actions (gestures, sounds, etc.) though clearly meant to complement the main action and create the sense of ensemble, felt oddly inorganic and distracting. 

As with most student work of course, the earnest dedication, good intentions and hard work are never in doubt. The production, though it hangs together competently enough, needed a few more oxygen tanks to make the full climb.

Julius Caesar runs to November 24