National Theatre Live: Julius Caesar (2018) Reviews

• A Truly Lean and Hungry Look

  thelogfirecabin2018-03-24

  Nicholas Hytner's contemporary take on ancient Rome's political elite is sparsely set. Props and scenery are largely absent, costumes are in subdued colours, and scene changes are carried out in the dark, quickly and inconspicuously. This serves to focus attention on the text, and the emotions and interaction between characters, characters who look like they could have walked right off a street outside. Hytner isn't very interested in dissecting Roman historical details in this interpretation, but in something more universal - the nature of political leadership, on how the masses can and do perceive politicians, and on how the masses can so easily be manipulated. We start off, before scene one, with a loud, heavy metal band, playing to bopping, beer-drinking audience members standing around the stage. At first this appeared to be a kind of warm-up act, until during the rock music commotion, a man appeared with a track suit top that said "Mark Antony" on the back, and spoke to the crowd. Oh no, we thought, is this noise is part of the play, do we have to put up with this repetitive, blaring electronic throbbing throughout this production? Fortunately, no. However, after our screen went blank shortly afterwards (we were told because of technical problems) we then, in our cinema, landed up in the middle of Act I Scene II, just before Cassius describes pulling a nearly drowning Caesar out of the water. Hence I can't tell you how the warm-up act actually segued into Scene I, the famous Beware the Ides of March scene. But this rock 'n roll prelude set a tone: there were frequent loud electronic sound effects throughout the performance, which tested the abilities of the actors to project their voices and their diction above the noise and rabble. All passed. In fact, all actors navigated the 16th century dialogue with nuance, humour, and received thespian pronunciation. This was even though some of the actors, such as Wendy Kweh, from Singapore, (as Calpurnia) come from a background where learning the fluent speaking of English dialogue from 1599 isn't part of the background culture. What of the characterizations? Hytner took the surprising decision to cast a woman as Cassius, but it worked. Michelle Fairley was outstanding in this role, and projected a truly lean and hungry look, but Adjoa Andoh nearly stole a few scenes from her, with her amusing swagger and mannerisms. David Calder emitted Caesar's arrogance from within a somewhat crumpled lounge suit, and made the man seem much more like one of those talking political figureheads seen on the nightly news. Of course later we see that this is not the whole of the man. David Morrissey was a Mark Antony of a seemingly naive fan-club sort at first, yet who blossoms into one who manipulates a crowd through flawless word magic and innuendo. Ben Whishaw's Brutus was scholarly and measured in approach, but ultimately misguided by his education. The entire interpretation works well as a mirror to our own era, where politicians' personalities play on world stages, civil unrest is bubbling away, the elite try to keep the masses in the dark from unraveling what is really going on, and where there are dark and abrupt political scene changes . Shakespeare tells of a deep state in Rome before Christ. This is the aspect that Hytner chooses to focus on and dress in contemporary clothes.

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• Next Best Thing to Live

  stan_rea2018-04-05

  We recently saw the National Theater (from England) Live production of Julius Caesar at a movie theater near to us. Not the closest theater to us, mind you--we had to drive past several to get to this one. But that's another issue. Shakespeare on film tends to fall into one of three categories. There are film adaptations such as "O," or "She's the Man" or "Ran." There are film versions of the plays. Branagh's "Hamlet" from 1994 or the BBC's "Hollow Crown" series are great examples. And then there are filmed versions of stage productions. Shakespeare's Globe in London has done a few of these, most notably, "Twelfth Night." NT Live's "Julius Caesar" falls into this last category. Watching a production at a movie theater has some definite advantages. The seats, especially at the theater we were at, are much more comfortable than most live theater seating that I can remember. Due to the size of the screen and the way movie theater seats are arranged, you never miss a thing. And of course, you can order popcorn and make a big mess at your seat with it. Try bringing something like that into a live theater production and see what happens! On the other hand, there are some downsides as well. Although you have a great view, you see only what the camera wants you to see. Film versions tend to focus on whoever's speaking, which makes sense. As a result, however, you are not able to glance around to see what the other people on stage are doing. There can be technical difficulties. At the showing we were at there was a sound synching issue (you heard the words a half second or so after you saw the person say the word). The theater manager was standing outside the door with free passes as a way of apology, so kudos to them! There is something lost in watching a filmed stage production. Two things are lost, actually. First, the experience is two dimensional: flat, if you will. Live theater is three dimensional. Secondly, the idea of a moment in time is lost. When you see a play live, even if it's the hundredth time that particular company has done that particular show, it's still the only time that performance will be done by that group on that date in that space. Today's performance may be much better than the day prior, and it may be much worse than the day following. But it will never be exactly the same. It's what makes theater, theater. Despite the downsides, the greatest advantage of seeing a production like NT Live's Julius Caesar is that you get the opportunity to see the production, something most of us on this side of the pond would not have the opportunity to do. Second, even if you were in London, you would have to pay more to see it. The cost of the ticket to see it on the big screen ($15) was almost certainly way less than what it would have cost to see it truly live. NT Live's production was a great one. Ben Whishaw is wonderful as Brutus, who really is the main character. Good old Julius is bumped off well before the half way point. Except for a short appearance as a ghost later on, he is absent for most of the play. Ben Whishaw was in the Hollow Crown series as Richard II (sad stories about the death of kings . . .). David Calder takes the title role. Mr Calder had taken on King Lear at Shakespeare's Globe in 2008 among many other roles. Michelle Fairley, previously seen in such films as Harry Potter and TV shows like Game of Thrones, was Caius Cassius, she of "the lean and hungry look." David Morrissey, who plays Mark Antony, has an impressive theater resume. A couple of years with the Royal Shakespeare Company and productions with the Almeida Theatre and Cheek by Jowl (all theaters that Bardwatching has seen in performance), not to mention numerous film and television credits. I suppose most will currently recognize him from the cast of The Walking Dead. Put these four actors together, throw in a rock band singing Twisted Sister numbers and a play that literally happens in the middle of the audience, and you have a great production. My only regret, and it's not a huge one, is that I did not see it live.

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• Revised

  ferdinand19322018-08-08

  This production of Julius Caesar has a grunge band, as if it was Seattle in 1990. The text is cut: the shorter length condensed action and made it an entirely different work, not the original source, but merely based on. It was not a representation of ancient Rome, not that the play is either historically accurate nor authentic, ( no one ever said Et tu...) but the relationships had been changed fundamentally from the play by Shakespeare to something like a contemporary dictatorship in which grunge still rocks. The problem is that the production is not really the source play. It is full of tricks and distractions and that works for an audience, but it is not the original play. That is not necessarily bad but like the trade descriptions act to describe any product, cereal, or a car, it is not what is advertised. The hardest justification is cutting the text because the text is what someone pays to see and hear hence the cuts have a very large effect.

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