JULIUS CAESAR (Sofa Shakespeare)****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMvU4h7ehl4

Available until: Unknown

This production of Julius Caesar is so much fun. It’s not the most cheerful play in the world, but it is still very possible to have fun with it, while still giving a good and meaningful performance. It’s also great to see so many different people who have one very important thing in common: they all love Shakespeare.

There are some really great actors in this production and I think even the ideas that seem totally crazy on the surface can give you a new perspective, a new idea, and a new way of enjoying Shakespeare.

A few names jumped out at me from the cast list. Tiffany Abercrombie is always excellent and there’s a sort of directness in her performance that makes Shakespeare seem so accessible. Emily Carding is fantastically intense as Antony and does a great job with one of the most famous lines. Scarlett Archer is an incredible Brutus. It’s a very powerful performance and although she isn’t an adult, she totally has the ability to play adult roles. Valentina Vinci is incredibly moving as Brutus. She keeps making me care about characters I don’t want to like!

Other actors I enjoyed included the actors in the opening and closing scenes, who are both outstanding. There’s a female Casca who has a wonderful rant at Caesar. There’s a Brutus who cuddles his child in a very loving way – it’s so interesting to think of these characters as people with families. A Caesar looks out of the window as he explains that he’s staying at home at Calpurnia’s request – it looks and sounds exactly like a scene from a Shakespeare film. A very good Antony delivers his lines in a car park. Another delivers a powerful speech from an outdoor stage.

Child actors include a young First Citizen who gets to call Caesar a tyrant and delivers the line with relish. There’s also a very passionate young Cassius. Cinna the Poet appears in one scene as a baby – it’s a very powerful way of performing what is already an upsetting scene. Brutus in his high chair with his wooden fork is very cute.

There are obviously lots of togas and some really nice leaf headbands, but there is no rule saying that every production of Julius Caesar has to be set in a particular time and place and there are some great costumes from various times, including Brutus as a flapper.

A number of the characters speak on the phone – one of the scenes is set in a tent and they get a phone call and it’s a wonderfully creepy moment. There’s also a kitchen sink drama for Brutus and Portia. The messages on their t-shirts have as much to say as they do. Another Portia has a skeleton playing her husband. In the circumstances, it seems more than reasonable for her to ask if he is well. He’s probably looked better.

There are also moments of humour, such a moment of shock for a Cassius who is sheltering under an umbrella, while Cinna (not the poet) does a spot of running. There are musical performers, including one scene which is entirely sung and another where the speeches are expressed by various musical instruments.

Pets obviously get starring roles. A dog beautifully enacts the moment where Caesar falls and foams at the mouth (there wasn’t any actual foaming, but you get the idea. A great sense of drama from this talented canine). There’s a Casca cat with bewitching eyes who shares a scene with a Caesar cat with great dignity. Another Caesar cat writhes on the sofa as he moans about Calpurnia’s nightmares. A Lucius dog acts his scene perfectly, pretending to move away as he talks about leaving and then moving back as he talks about returning. A Brutus dog has the most incredible grin and a Brutus cat looks wonderfully unimpressed with a human Cassius. And if you ever wanted to see a pet in a toga, you will get to see it here. But you can’t always trust a pet to behave, as one Antony discovers when a cat becomes fixated with his nose.

There are lots of toys - there will be some nice surprises for fans of Doctor Who, Star Wars, Queen and David Beckham. A Lego Brutus stands on a Lego lawn as Lucius comes out of a Lego house. There’s a lovely Brutus bear sitting in an orchard. Another bear Brutus in Act 4 is full of personality. Perhaps because Julius Caesar is set such a long time ago, there are several scenes where the characters are played by dinosaurs.

We also get to see characters as electric lights, plants, animated corks and items of food. Even toilet rolls get to play a part. I never realised they had such personality.

I love the toys and the pets and everything else, but maybe one of the best things for me is that everyone tries their best. Even when they’re being hilarious, they care about doing a good job and it makes the plays even more fun.