by Amanda N. Gunther, TheatreBloom
TheatreBloom rating: 4.5/5 starsFriends! Romans! Washingtonians! The time has come to take a stand against the inconstant shifting nature of theatre in Washington DC! Hail The Rude Mechanicals and their rebellious production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Directed by company founder Jaki Demarest, this scandalous production takes the great Roman Empire to 1920’s soviet occupied Russia. Stalin, proletariat, rebellion; all encompassed in Demarest’s revolutionary vision of one of the Bard’s milder tragedies.
With honor in one eye and death in the other, Demarest approaches the Bard’s work as a vessel for a political agenda that has run rampant throughout history: power to the people because the people have the power. While the execution of this concept weighs in at a 75% completion factor, the notion that the citizens guide the story arch of the play with their active presence amid the audience is a unique concept inviting the audience to feel as if they are a part of the rebellion. To hear the cries of the citizen right beside your ear as the perpetual struggle for power plays out before your eyes is an immersive technique that fully douses the audience in the idea of revolution.
Demarest layers in the concepts of feminist struggle as well; giving voice and light to the oppression of women by cross-casting all of the major conspirator roles with female actors. Making both Cassius and Mark Antony female characters augments Shakespeare’s undertones of romantic tension between Antony and Caesar as well as the more blatant sexual tension between Cassius and Brutus. Demarest’s ability to adapt a gargantuan Shakespearean tragedy to an intimate space is astounding; her opening scene alone with the V-line of conspirators with Brutus at the point making for a striking first image of the show.
Rounding out the displacement of Ancient Rome into the stoic 1920’s of Russia, Costume Designer Trevor Jones finds outfits most befitting of every gender, class, and rank throughout the performance. Painting Caesar to look like Stalin and his men to wear the red sashes of his regime is a mark of a learned history buff. Jones keeps the style trendy with the cuts of the dresses and coats featured on the women; a classy and sophisticated hand at work when it comes to featuring characters like Cinna of the conspirators or Portia, Brutus’ wife.
Demarest pares down the production from its lengthy original version to something much more succinct. The essence of Caesar might be an appropriate name for the performance, though all of the key points are featured without feeling as if a great deal has been struck from the show’s existence. The production stands on sturdy legs on the whole; exceptional pacing and well-delivered text from the principles.
Metellus (Moira Parham) Cinna (Sam David) Casca (Lisa Hill-Corley) and Trebonius (Melissa Schick) make up the core of the conspirators; each delivering their part in Caesar’s downfall under Brutus’ reign. Whether it’s David’s surly and haughty mockery of the citizens in the opening scene or Hill-Corley’s brutish facial expressions pulled during combat scenes, these four femme fatales become a crucial part of the performance, often just standing stoically still in silence in the company of Brutus. The image that they create as a harem of followers is striking and feeds into the sexual opposition created in Demarest’s vision.
Women for the sake of women, however, are soft and delicate creatures as exhibited in Calpurnia (Mikki Barry) and Portia (Boneza Hanchock.) Mild and meager both Barry and Hanchock adapt the stereotypical demure position of femininity and wend it around Shakespeare’s words when it comes to their husbands. Barry in particularly infuses her performance with hints of a woman’s fury over her outlandish dreams, though never quite so sternly as to evoke the ire of her husband, Caesar (Alan Duda.) To his credit, Duda delivers a forlorn version of Caesar; human and flawed. There is a vulnerability to his portrayal of the title character that is endearing, yet quickly revoked and pinned down by his masculine sensibilities when he puts Calpurnia into her place with a single glance and uttered phrase.
Playing opposite Caesar, though they share precious little stage time together, Demarest takes on the multi-faceted role of Mark Antony. Serving as a bombastic burst of energy to the stage, Demarest finds depth and dimension in this supporting role. A tumultuous amalgamation of spirited sentiment, she churns up a plethora of contradictory emotions, warring with one another throughout her speeches. Fury and love tangle with passionate grievance; several show-stealing moments landing her way when she rallies the crowd to the side of righteousness after the slaughter of Caesar. Jarring in a similar fashion with even fewer moments to the stage is young Octavius (Holly Trout.) Though appearing briefly near the end of the production, her spitfire delivery makes her performance worth noting.
Brutus (Joshua Engel) is often credited with the overthrowing of Caesar; the figurehead to revolution. Yet it’s Cassius (Rebecca Speas) that wields the true blade of villainy in this performance. Engel delivers an underwhelming Brutus; taking a milder and more aloof approach to the character. Emotionally disconnected, Engel serves the role as a puppet; allowing Demarest’s feminist vision of ‘women in power’ to ring true with Speas as the master puppeteer. Engel does rally moments of emotional fury, though the majority of speeches are soft spoken; it’s the romantic tension that he carries between his character and Speas’ that is worth watching.
Speas, as the ruthless and remorseless Cassius, drives the action of the production. A fierce energy with perpetual resting rage-face, Speas is a raging inferno of fury that blasts forth in every scene. Speas’ consistently high-levels of playing each moment at full emotional intensity leaves her little room in which to allow these heavily emotionally articulated moments to grow and in a few scenes she reaches an emotionally peaked ceiling a bit too early. That aside, her stage presence is tremendous and she is the voice and reason of the uprising, masterfully commanding Brutus to her will.
Ye Gods, it shall amaze you, the feats this company manages to accomplish in under two hours traffic upon the stage; a reimagination of tragedy that gives new meaning to power struggles throughout history.
by Sophia Howes, DC Metro Theater Arts
Julius Caesar seems to be always with us. High school Latin still features Caesar’s Commentaries. Once there was a Russian Tsar. Now there is an Ebola czar. Caesar appears on Pinterest, Tumblr, and multitudes of Internet memes. Some e-cards notes “Just a heads-up that I have no intention of stabbing you 23 times on the Ides of March.” A distraught young woman pleads “We should totally just stab Caesar!” Perhaps it is time to admit that he is inevitable, like death, taxes, and Santa Claus.
Julius Caesar seems to be always with us. High school Latin still features Caesar’s Commentaries. Once there was a Russian Tsar. Now there is an Ebola czar. Caesar appears on Pinterest, Tumblr, and multitudes of Internet memes. Some e-cards notes “Just a heads-up that I have no intention of stabbing you 23 times on the …
The Rude Mechanicals have a unique take on Caesar; he is just like (wait for it) Lenin! In this iteration, Brutus becomes Trotsky and Octavius, a young Stalin. This production is an alternate history, set in 20th century Rome with echoes of the Soviet Union after the revolution. There are female soldiers; Cassius (Rebecca Speas), Mark Antony (Jaki Demarest, who also directs), and Casca (Lisa Hill-Corley). The crowd, i.e. the Roman populace, sits in the front seats and yells its head off for Caesar or Brutus, depending on who’s agitating and why. Caesar (Alan Duda) comes across as a somewhat courtly mob boss, surrounded by adoring women. Octavius (Holly Trout) is a combination of cold killer and femme fatale. Brutus (Joshua Engel) is just another thoughtful intellectual, wondering what it all means and oh, by the way, plotting to kill Caesar.
The key to this production is the performances, and the commitment of the actors is exceptional. Alan Duda is a startlingly effective Caesar, and his evil scream as his ghost appears to Brutus is one of the most riveting moments of the evening. As Brutus, Joshua Engel renders a fine account of a man who is torn between his idealism and his baser impulses. Rebecca Speas’ Cassius is full of conviction and fire; there is no doubt that this Cassius will win over Brutus to his (or, in this case, her) side. Jaki Demarest is a formidable Mark Antony, and her speech after Caesar’s death (“And Brutus is an honorable man”) is both a moving portrait of a woman mourning her friend, and a rousing call to action for the citizens of Rome. Lisa Hill-Corley is excellent as Casca; her matter-of-fact urgency and singularity of purpose make her an ideal co-conspirator for the fierce Cassius. As Octavius, Holly Trout is appropriately devious and menacing, suggesting that, like Stalin’s, her reign of terror will be profound and excruciating.
It is heartening to see so many women playing Shakespeare, when traditionally there are so few women’s parts. Here, Boneza Hanchock is a lovely Portia, and her speech about her fear for her husband is sensitively and beautifully drawn. As Calpurnia, Mikki Barry portrays a devoted wife, full of foreboding with a tender grace; her sadness as she stands by Caesar’s corpse in a wheelchair is especially touching. Moira Parham (Metellus Cimber), Melissa Schick (Trebonius) and Sam David (Cinna the Conspirator) give purposeful and focused performances.
Will Robey hits just the right note as Cinna the Poet, and his death is one of the most chilling scenes in the production. Sidney Davis (First Citizen), Andy Bakry (Second Citizen), Julia Pfanstiehl (Third Citizen), Leanne O’Neill (Fourth Citizen), Carol Calhoun (Fifth Citizen) and Michael McCarthy (Sixth Citizen) all contribute to the energy and brio of the production.
One of the best aspects of the staging is the use of the crowd. They chant “Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!” They react viscerally to whatever they see on stage, and are swayed 180 degrees by the dueling orations of Brutus and Antony.
A few caveats; to have Brutus be the one who tricks Caesar into going to the Forum doesn’t seem to work; such obvious tactics take away from our image of Brutus as the one conspirator with principles. In addition, this Brutus seems to have already decided to kill Caesar at the very beginning; the manipulation of Brutus’ vanity, and his journey to the final decision to kill, are part of why we want to watch Brutus. Because, for example, Brutus’ speech about assassination (“Between the acting of a dreadful thing and the first motion, all the interim is like a phantasma, or a hideous dream.”) comes in the very first scene, his through-line as a character becomes somewhat confusing.
Still, Director Jaki Demarest has created a unique, thought-provoking version of one of Shakespeare’s best plays. If at times it veers towards the outlandish, the production is always surprising and dynamic. The danger inherent in revolution, and the torturous intimacy of the relationships, are palpable, and, along with the power and beauty of the language, remind us what a great play this truly is.
Sound Design (Eric Honour) is among the evening’s greatest pleasures. As we enter, we hear scratchy revolution-type songs, and towards the end as the vision grows more somber, deeper, more mourning notes intrude. Lighting Design/Greenbelt Arts Center, by Eric Gasior and Liana Olear, has some unusual and striking effects, such as the flickering of lights in the beginning, and the darkness as Brutus encounters the ghost of Caesar.
Costumes by Trevor Jones have variety and style, and visually add to the Bolshevik revolution theme. Rebecca Speas creates many unusual Special Effects.
Brutus’ desire to kill Caesar is really a contemplation of patricide; there were rumors in Caesar’s lifetime that Brutus was actually Caesar’s son. Such themes are primal, and they never fail to grab an audience. This cast commits thoroughly to the play, and rides it valiantly to the finish. If you are looking for edgy Shakespeare, relax and enjoy the ride.
Running time: 1 hour and 45 minutes, with one intermission.
Julius Caesar plays through Sunday, January 11, 2015 at the Greenbelt Arts Center – 123 Centerway – in Greenbelt, Maryland. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at (301) 441-8870 or purchasing them online.
Julius Caesar also plays January 16-24, 2015 at the Howard County Center for the Arts—8510 High Ridge Road – in Ellicott City, MD. Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance online.
Rating:
Story follows betrayal, deceit
by Kristy Groff, Gazette.Net
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend the Rude Mechanicals your ears during their upcoming run of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” at the Greenbelt Arts Center.
This will be the second time the Rude Mechanicals have taken on the play since their debut 15 years ago. This time, director Jaki Demarest has turned to Russia’s political climate nearly a century ago, taking inspiration from the figures of Leon Trotsky, Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin and their respective roles in the Russian revolution and fitting them to ancient Rome.