Julius Caesar, Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf Theatre - 15 Nov - 23 Dec 21

 

Julius Caesar was, for me, like most people, one of the first Shakespeare plays I studied at high school. I must admit it's still not one of my favourite Shakespeares, largely because it's got messy structural issues - the play peaks in Act III (out of 5), with the ending being a series of battles largely lead by a character who only shows up in Act IV (Octavian) - the kind of annoying lack-of-dramatic-development-of-key-characters thing that actual history tends to hand playwrights but  which can be massaged out more stylishly than Shakespeare particularly manages. As it happens, this is the first time I'd seen a production of it, in Kip Williams' somewhat bells-and-whistles filled production (with a cast of three playing multiple roles, in the round with a box of video screens projecting a lot of the action in close up, filmed largely by the cast). 

Surprisingly, this is a production that brought me closer to the play and made me love it more. The actors do stirling work, swapping between multiple roles smoothly and effectively giving performances scaled to both close-up and opposite-side of the stage, with clever transitions and choices defining when the screens will take precedence versus when the actor-on-stage is the focus. The costumes move between period and style in clever ways, with different sections having different emphasis. The central forum speeches of Brutus and Antony are a particular highlight, with the play very much pivoting on this point, but the show doesn't lose momentum after these moments, springing creative choices that keep the action constantly engaging.

Standing out in the centre of much of the action is Zahra Newman, largely playing Brutus. the moral centre of the play, as the one caught between family history, personal loyalties and honour as he chooses to buy into a murderous conspiracy to prevent tyranny and lives to see the results. She has the intensity right where it should be, emotionally true and engrossing (she also seems to be required to do a pretty large piece of crew-work that is, as all good big-scale-crew-work should be, completely invisible and looks like magic). In the showy trio of Caesar, Cassius and Octavian, Ewan Leslie knows just how to individuate all three with a voice, a piece of body language and a change of the angle of the sweater hanging over his shoulders. Geraldine Hakewill has Mark Antony's killer setpiece of a speech in the centre of the play and absolutely makes it her own, even at the slightly extended length it gets here (as she begins to channel other pieces of familiar rhetoric and drag them into the increasingly demagogic speech, as we see how political gamesmanship is played. 

It's a production that makes big bold choices and commits to them strongly, knowing just when to use a particular device and when to let it go. There's distinct transitions between design aesthetics here that know just when they have to happen and makes them appear smooth and effortless, such that you arrive at a point thinking "how did we get here" rather than anything feeling laboured or rough. This is a production that feels speedy and loaded with ideas yet never feels overwhelming or incomprehensible. It's a major achievement that serves performers and audiences well. It opened my eyes to a play I used to consider the safe choice for high school students because it was the Shakesperare play wit the fewest obvious sexual references. I'm deeply happy I made time for this.