At the Streetcar Crow’s Nest, Carlaw and Dundas, Toronto, Ont.
Written by William Shakespeare
Additional writing by Zack Russell
Directed by Chris Abraham
Set and Lighting by Lorenzo Savoini
Costumes by Ming Wong
Sound by Thomas Ryder Payne
Cast: Graham Abbey
Sarah Afful
Walter Borden
Ryan Cunningham
Michelle Giroux
Dion Johnstone
Jani Lauzon
Diego Matamoros
Jim Mezon
Moya O’Connell
André Sills
The production is explosive and bracing and of course Shakespeare’s play is of our times. Why then was there the need to add dialogue and a final scene?
The Story. Julius Caesar is about a successful general who leads his army to beat the enemy, Pompey, and comes home to great pomp and celebration. His generals however think Caesar is too ambitious hard-headed and unmanageable and want to get rid of him in a really ‘final’ way and bring reason back to Rome. One of the most honourable men of the upper echelon of the government is Brutus who has to be convinced to join the plot to kill Caesar. A soothsayer tells Caesar to beware the Ides of March (the 15th of March) because he knows what will happen that day.
The murder will happen in the Senate house, but first the plotters have to get Caesar there. Calpurnia, Caesar’s wife urges him not to go. (“Julie, don’t go!!” Sorry I couldn’t resist a little Wayne and Shuster…) He agrees but then the plotters come to fetch him to the Senate house and he doesn’t want to appear weak so he goes. It doesn’t end well.
This is a play about power and a fickle populous. The play is as timely as tomorrow’s headlines except it was written 400 years ago.
The Production. In the beginning of the play that Shakespeare wrote we find out how fickle the people of Rome were. We learn from tribunes who are chastising the common folks, that these folks idolized Pompey at one time and waited to see his chariot pass with him in it. But now that Caesar has defeated him in battle they switched allegiances and are dressed in their finest clothes to greet Caesar when he returns from battle.
It’s a telling scene but it’s cut in this production and replaced by additional dialogue by Zack Russell who has three radio commentators at microphones who tell us about the battle and the history of Pompey to put things in perspectives.
But there is a brilliant touch in Chris Abraham’s production. As we walk into the space in a far corner there is a balloon stick-man structure that has arms and a central section in which air is shot into it so this figure with arms flips and flops as the air is shot up it.
I thought that image of this structure weaving in the wind was a perfect metaphor for the fickleness of the people who play this way and that depending on how well they are manipulated to follow one person and then the other. The problem with the image and the metaphor is that one had to know the play and certainly the first scene in order to apply the image. I sure appreciated it.
Writer Zack Russell has included a scene with Coriolanus who talks about power and following his own path without interference (Coriolanus forgets that his mother had a pretty strong hold on him). In cheeky irony André Sills (wonderful actor) gives that speech here in Julius Caesar— André Sills played Coriolanus at Stratford two summers ago.
The production also has an added end scene in which the characters come back to life and discourse on how much they hated Julius Caesar and how he failed them and how it’s hard to educate the people. Caesar is played by a formidable Jim Mezon—bullet-headed, laser stare and knows how to block a person from leaving his presence. In the last scene, Mezon reacts with total stillness which makes him riveting and devastating when he utters the last two words—and no I won’t tell you what they are.
Dion Johnstone plays a conflicted Brutus, honourable, thoughtful, a thinker. In his scenes with the “lean and hungry” Cassius (a compelling Moya O’Connell) there is such urgency in the give and take of their speeches because the stakes are so high. Graham Abbey plays Mark Antony who speaks quietly, crisply and with keen intelligence.
At one point Mark Antony talks about information about himself from another play and he makes a comment about his people skills as a result that gets a laugh. I think that’s going a long distance for a small joke. The women get short-changed in Julius Caesar. Calpurnia loves Caesar and always watches out for him. Sarah Afful invests Calpurnia with a firm spirit and determination. She almost saves Caesar from going to the Senate but ultimately fails. Portia, Brutus’ wife, beautifully played by Michelle Giroux seems almost frail and distraught over Brutus’ distraction and coldness to her. We get the sense from these wives of their isolation from their husbands.
At the end of the play, in the added scene, we are told who each of the resurrected characters is complete with their dates of birth and death, as they rise from the dead.
I get a bit antsy when extra dialogue is introduced to the play. What point does it serve and why isn’t Shakespeare considered enough? Do these added scenes enhance the play, make it more accessible? Nope, not really. I don’t think they are needed if one listens to the play Shakespeare wrote—ambition, reason, force, manipulation etc. it’s all there. With the added dialogue it seems to be Shakespeare that is underlined and italicized to accentuate the bits on which one wants to focus. Have faith. Of course we get it without the fussy help.
As for the rest of Chris Abraham’s production, it went like the wind in its ratcheted up pace. It’s a modern dress production. Everyone is dressed in stylish black—black pants, tops, coats etc. (bravo to Ming Wong for her design).
It’s a noisy production. In this production Caesar is shot and not stabbed. There is that foreboding storm complete with crashing thunder. There is the sound of bombs and gunfire in the distance as Brutus and company fight another battle. And there is a lot of shouting to be heard over all the noise. A lot. That’s a shame. Here’s the thing, if there is a lot of shouting, from a lot of people, then they’ve lost the argument and the audience. We know that Mark Antony was a great orator. That doesn’t just mean he knew what to say. It also means he knew how to say it. In this production Graham Abbey as Mark Antony began the “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” speak by talking loudly into a microphone and continuing for a bit and then when he had the crowd didn’t use the mic but still raised his voice. A bit later he used the mic again. Antony would know how to get that mob’s attention quickly and then talk to them quietly—even a mob. I always think of the great William Hutt, brilliant actor, who knew that you don’t make the audience hear you as much as you make them listen to you. So when he found that the audience was getting restless, he just talked softer. Many other actors around him would bellow their lines to be heard and he just talked softer and all the programme rustling, candy-wrapper crinkling and whispering stopped. Brilliant. Enough with the shouting, please.
Comment. Director Chris Abraham says in his programme note that sure the play is about power, but he sees it more as an exploration of the limits of human will and reason.
“Reason, and our belief that we can use it as an all-powerful tool to govern our own actions, and the actions of others, is the premise under investigation at the heart of Julius Caesar.
So we hear about the manipulation of the people when Mark Antony tries to crown Caesar king and Caesar refuses the crown three times. It’s all a performance to make Caesar seem less than ambitious. Love the politics of the play and the games playing. It’s about tyrants and so timely.
I had “royalty” at the opening. On the aisle over there was John Ralston Saul. Beside him was his lady-wife, Adrienne Clarkson. Beside her was Margaret Atwood who was tweeting during intermission. It was that kind of night.
Groundling Theatre Company and Crow’s Theatre present:
From: Jan. 7, 2020.
Closes: Feb. 2, 2020
Running Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes approx.
https://tickets.crowstheatre.com/TheatreManager