Julius Caesar

Directed by: Judith French      
Written By: William Shakespeare     
Performance Dates: March 2006     

Shakespeare’s most famous ‘Roman’ play was performed by the middle school this year at the end of the Spring Term on the fateful Ides of March. Specially abridged for the school by Judith French, who was asked to direct the show, this production was full of energy, aggression and confrontation. From the moment the Roman mob appeared shouting the name of ‘Caesar!’ just as a football crowd would, we realised that it is this mob who will drive the action forward and show us the way that successive leaders have played upon its capacity for destruction.

After the initial conspirators hatch their plan to assassinate Caesar, we are treated to a particularly vicious and gruesome enactment of the deed that brought home the human reality of murder. This vengeful mob is swayed first one way and then the other by the rhetoric of Brutus and Antony and in a fine example of ensemble acting is transformed into the armies of the warring factions. Dressed in customised t-shirts and armed with dustbin-lids and broom handles for weapons, the actors clearly demonstrated to us how the atmosphere of suspicion and revenge leads inevitably to the violence of the battlefield. The noise and chaos of hand-to-hand combat was created with great gusto and skilfully choreographed with moments of stillness to highlight the poignant deaths of Cassius and Brutus.

There were some excellent performances, most notably from Samuel Noah whose rich voice and measured delivery gave weight to Antony’s impassioned pleas to the crowd. Also William Prince handled the language of the play so expertly as Brutus that his steely arguments for the assassination of Caesar were given great credibility. Congratulations also go to Harry Michell who confidently strutted the stage as Cassius and to Jonathan Tamas for his wily portrayal of Casca. All procedures were well orchestrated by Gabriel Chain as stage manager so well done to all involved and many thanks to Judith for her contribution to this year’s productions.