An Action-Packed Julius Caesar For The Ages

By Melody Udell in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 17, 2013 4:00PM

The cast of Julius Caesar in Chicago Shakespeare Theater's modern retelling. Photo courtesy Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Et tu, Chicago Shakespeare Theater? Indeed, the innovative theater company on Navy Pier has taken a stab at staging Julius Caesar for the modern audience. To do this, they’ve imported British director Jonathan Munby to show us how easily the Bard’s famous tale of murder, power and corruption resonates with the contemporary crowd.

Shakespeare’s tragedy recounts the famous slaying of the ambitious Roman general Caesar (David Darlow), with Munby’s vision of Rome starting out on the marbled steps of the capitol. After a rowdy, Caesar-loving crowd disperses, we get our first glimpse of the famed leader, who appears under a political banner “paid for by the committee to re-elect Caesar.” Darlow gives Caesar a regal air. It’s easy to see why the quickly manipulated populace attempts to crown him, despite the fact that Rome’s shakily established republic rule forbids it.

We first encounter Cassius — played by a relentlessly persuasive Jason Kolotouros — persuading the loyal Brutus (John Light) that Caesar has become too ambitious, a danger to the republic. Light’s Brutus is confident and determined, but we fail to see much of his own internal struggle over killing the leader he loves for the good of Rome. He’s a little too easily swayed, and the two gather a group of like-minded Senators to carry out the violent stabbing of Caesar. And, like most rash ideas with an indefinable sense of urgency, the murdering Senators didn’t think too much beyond their heinous deed. Marc Antony (the formidable Dion Johnstone) gives his infamous “friends, Romans, countrymen” speech with calculated precision — each insidious word turning the people of Rome against the conspiratorial Senators.

With the public no longer believing the conspirators killed Caesar for the good of the country, Rome goes to war, with Cassius and Brutus heading up armies against Mark Antony and Caesar’s nephew Octavius (Samuel Taylor). Alexander Dodge’s seemingly simple set turns impressively into a war-ravaged Rome. The daggers used to kill Caesar are replaced with heavy-duty semi-automatic weapons as gunshots, explosions and looting become the new backdrop. All the while, Munby adds in his eerie version of the famous soothsayer (McKinley Carter) who tried to warn Caesar of his death on the ides of March. Her haunting singing throughout the most pivotal war scenes gives the play a spooky feel, so it’s fitting that Brutus imagines Caesar is haunting him from the grave.

Shakespeare’s great tragedy is a staggering production, full of high-minded characters with ambiguous motives. At times, it feels Munby is hitting us over the head to show us a contemporary interpretation of Julius Caesar — like the Romans, we need little persuasion. The modern parallels are easy to draw. But with a fresh and fast-paced approach, the play is an action-packed reimagining of a classic power struggle.