Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a play steeped in the classical canon, laden and layered with both HISTORY and performance history. Letson’s Julius X is a tale rife with much more recent collective American cultural memory, evoking images and speeches from a moment in America when people fought for the right simply to be recognized as American, and notions of equality and justice occupied the center of that that contest.
2 comments:
This article was so interesting to me! I’m a huge fan of when classic plays (especially Shakespearean works) are reimagined or give inspiration to different historical/modern interpretations. The play this article discusses, Julius X, is a cross between Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and the story of Malcom X’s impact on America in the 1950-1960s. I really loved how the playwright decided to put the focus not solely on Malcom X and his life, but more so the impact and state of affairs through his advocacy. Much like the story of Julius Caesar, the plot follows the nujmerous difficulties and ambitions of those who want to rise up, but this time concerning Black Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. These stories are so important to continue being told, and combining Shakespeare with the ideas of Malcom X is truly genius because it can bring people from all different backgrounds together; Those interested in Shakespeare and those interested in learning more about opinions during the Civil Rights Era.
I think that it is really important to see works like this and to create a space where more can emerge. I feel like recently there has been an increase in Black authors/playwrights/artists reimagining older works from a Black perspective or, in the case of Julius X, with Black history entwined. What I immediately thought of reading this article is a novel called James. It is a reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from Jim’s perspective. I had never read Huck Finn before reading James but as a stand alone novel it is really incredible and I personally think everyone should read it. I just think that these retellings of old stories are a really incredible way to further expand on history and give space for Black artists to do so as long as it never becomes a limit where there is no imagination outside of reimagining what's already been written.
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