STAGE REVIEW: Julius Caesar at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until January 20, 2018.

WHAT a perfectly splendid recreation of Shakespeare’s Theatre the newly revamped main stage at the RSC has become!

The use of the latest technology has been allied to a setting so akin to that of the Elizabethan Globe so that it is, quite simply, a joy to sit among the audience and experience theatre as it was then, and is now, meant to be.

It is just a pity that the current production of Julius Caesar fails to live up to the inspiration that this theatre should bring.

Despite its Latin tagline, Julius Caesar MMXVII, this measured and apparently faithful interpretation lacks any resonance with the modern world.

In a time when a sole terrorist has wrought havoc on the streets of our capital city, ending a serving policeman’s life with the cold steel of a plunging blade, and a time when self-serving and deluded egotist may have brought danger and confusion to the most powerful nation on earth, and when our own the country has been brought to the cliff edge of separation from its closest allies, this production by Angus Jackson left me not really caring about the fate of Julius Caesar, or of Brutus and his conspirators.

The sight of so many deaths and improbable suicides on this stage suggested only melodrama and disbelief. There was insufficient evidence of either extremist conviction or disturbance to the ordered way of things to create the sense of danger that Caesar’s murder should bring about.

Yet there were moments to appreciate and commend.

James Corrigan, as Mark Antony, brought a manipulative politician’s rhetoric to command the mob to his side in the crucial ‘Friends, Romans and Countrymen’ speech. The touching relationship between Brutus and his young servant, Lucius, showed a humanity otherwise lacking in Alex Waldmann’s portrayal of the conscience-wracked, reluctant conspirator, and made the sudden, callous murder of the boy servant even more shocking.

In his first scenes, Andrew Woodall as Caesar effectively portrayed an ageing leader descending into the madness of the epileptic dictator. And, later, his magical appearance from within the crowd as the avenging ghost brought a gasp of disbelief.

Unfortunately Alex Waldmann only hinted at the same developing insanity as he took command of his doomed army.

I have never been convinced of Mark Antony’s sudden invention of the dead Brutus as ‘The noblest Roman of them all’ in his final speech. And here it just doesn’t ring true either. It’s just too glib an ending.

In his pivotal scene with the mob, Mark Antony shows that he knows exactly what he is doing: indeed he has prepared his props beforehand. Surely, his gift of knowing sarcasm could be used to give an extra depth to this speech; suggesting that he might just be setting the scene for his own triumphant return to Rome?

In the wonderful setting of the RST, however, I was able to hear, and understand, every word of the play. Over the years, there have not been too many other performances of Shakespeare’s plays that I could have written that about. For that quality, if for no other, this is a performance worth attending.

But, if you want to see the outstanding performance so far of this season of the Roman tragedies, make sure you catch Josette Simon in her portrayal of the Egyptian Queen in Antony and Cleopatra.

Now, there’s an interpretation of the role that will be talked about for its brilliance for years to come.

BGB

  • Antony and Cleopatra was reviewed by Alan Wallcroft last week and can be found in this What'son section.