Theatre Development Fund – TDF: Pieces of the set literally fall apart during Theatre for a New Audience's kinetic production of Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. The startling destruction happens during the storm that precedes the assassination of the titular general by his frenemies in the Roman senate. "The supernatural aspects of this play -- the way in which nature is unhinged and is reflecting the diseased psyche of the nation -- really appealed to me," says director Shana Cooper, who makes her Off-Broadway debut with the show.
4 comments:
I’ve always been a huge fan of William Shakespeare’s Julius Cesar, and I cannot agree with this article enough about it being more timely than ever to be producing this show. The show itself is incredibly nuanced and filled with great, epic language that makes the show painfully tragic and important. I think that of all Shakespeare shows that you would remount in a different era or in a particular setting, this is the one to pay attention to. The idea of setting it in a construction site gives me a lot of imagery and I think its incredibly fitting seeing the show is about a broken empire. In today’s political climate, I think that theatre has a responsibility to produce work that makes people think about issues like tyranny, political distress, and revolution; its the only way that we as theatre makers do our job to keep history from repeating itself.
Theater can say so many different things to so many different people. It can be used in times of need and just for fun. In this case, theater is being used in a time of need and a time where something has to be said and everyone needs to hear it. When I saw the title, I was immediately drawn to this article. It reminded me that there are so many layers to theater and performance in general. It creates a faux reality and in a way warns the audience for what's to come or remind them of what has already happened. The quote, “"Shakespeare doesn't let any of us off the hook in terms of recognizing our own culpability and our own responses to this cycle of violence”, makes sense of the purpose of writing and performance. Recognizing something in terms of your surroundings or even yourself can be communicated in a variety of different ways but is particularly effect when told through performance.
I think this article is really interesting and I would be interested to see this production of Julius Caesar. I think it is risky to adapt shows to fit present political themes just because it can seem a little too on the nose and obvious but I think this production has potential to be really effective. I really appreciate their focus on personal relationships and not just on the gore and elements of war and violence, that can, in a way, numb the audience and take away some of the personal investment in the story. I also really like that they have decided to ignore what are typically male roles by casting women in those parts. Again, this is risky, because it can seem like the producers and directors and just trying to be progressive, without making any actually important statements, but I think these roles will be really interesting played by women. Again, I think it is a little risky and potentially dangerous to do this play, in this context, but this article makes it sound promising and I would be fascinated to go see it and see how it turns out.
If this is the same production that this director did in OSF then I have seen this exact production of it. I loved this production and I think it was done really well. Shakespeare has some super relevant themes and stories in his plays but as is they do not really talk about life now. The way that this show was changed into a modern setting with actors of color really made this show a commentary on our society and race relations and all that. I really like seeing plays done differently than they are meant. In high school we did a production of "Macbeth" but set in modern times and I think it did some similar things to a modern "Julius Cesar". There is a lot about leadership and corrupt vs not. I think that especially right now people are thinking about these things so choosing a play with relevant themes and modernizing it can be the way to go.
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