Crucible, Sheffield
27th May,
2017, matinee
Apart from the basic plot (thanks to Sparknotes) and reviews
of the toga-fest that is the RSC’s current production in Stratford-Upon-Avon, I
knew hardly anything about Shakespeare’s play before seeing this production.
New Artistic Director Robert Hastie’s contemporary set Julius Caesar allows us to invite comparisons with contemporary
politics without him having to crowbar an ill-fitting concept onto it. The
result is a fast moving production that reveals the power of rhetoric to win or
lose a crowd and that we too easily make politics into a case of binaries. Modern
dress highlights the play’s themes that are at stake in today’s world: the
nature of democracy, political betrayal, deceit, populism, and the power of
acting to the career politician.
For the first three acts, Ben Stones’ design creates the ugly
neutrality and professionalism of a senate. The semiotics are those of 21st
century politics: imposing furniture and plush boardroom aesthetics. The
Crucible’s usual lights that glitter like stars over the auditorium are
replaced by rows of strip lights. The stage is a red tiled carpet surrounded by
sunken desks with microphones and leather office chairs. Wooden panels complete
with a Roman insignia stretch out into the auditorium and even the front of
house staff’s black uniforms with red sashes possibly match the senators’ garb.
Hastie’s aim, I guess, is to bring us right into the action. The house lights
are on during some of the senate scenes and characters from crowds to soldiers
to Mark Antony when delivering his great funeral speech roam the audience. I’m
not fully convinced at how successful those efforts were to make the audience
complicit however it shows Hastie experimenting with the possibilities of the
space in what is a very confident and accessible first production. In the
second half, the design reflects the messy chaos of Rome after Caesar’s death: the
curtains are thrown back, lights flicker, rubbish and piles of broken office
chairs cover the stage. And perhaps most startling: the bodies of three conspirators
hang from above (aesthetically not unlike those in the first episode of The Handmaid’s Tale). Johanna Town’s
lighting goes from impressively bathing harsh white light onto the characters,
reflecting the exposure of public life, to sometimes casting shadows onto the
back walls.
There is some particularly neat casting in Hastie’s
production. Samuel West returns to the Crucible for the first time since he was
AD, his first production being Brenton’s The
Romans in Britain. His Brutus is complex and slippery. When we first see him,
he is composed, articulate and seemingly balanced. Later, in the private space
of his home, he’s less sure. Barefoot and dressed in sweats, toing and froing tormented
by his decision and its political consequences. And when the deed is done and
he’s giving his speech at Caesar’s funeral, he’s no longer confident. Fumbling
with cue cards and way above the crowd
on a balcony, he is not the orator that we hear he is. Compare this to Mark Antony’s
speech, and we see why the crowd are won over by his rhetoric. Firstly, he’s on
the same level as the revellers; he is of the people. Roaming amongst them –
and us – he manipulates them skilfully, holding up Caesar’s supposed will and
at one moment opening the coffin lid and holding the ghastly corpse of the
stabbed statesman. It’s a brave move which shows his confidence and adeptness
of being able to win over the crowd. It’s a scene wonderfully performed by
West, Elliot Cowan and a committed community company.
But even though we can draw parallels with Trump and Brexit (for
example) there are easy answers in the play. As Emma Smith asks in her
programme article (there are a couple of excellent pieces in the programme),
are Brutus and Cassius terrorists or freedom fighters? What exactly are Caesar’s
motives? Here, he seems honourable as portrayed by Jonathan Hyde. He even seems
a bit pathetic at one point, chasing his younger wife around trying to get his
shoes from her. Zoe Waites presents Cassius as having the raw ambition (perhaps
slightly hot headed) which she knows she needs to pair with Brutus’ experience.
Doubling Brutus’ wife, Portia, and Octavius (Chipo Chung) is a
nice idea. It hints that Brutus’ betrayal is more than a political one. It also
begins to solve the problem of what exactly happens to Portia, who otherwise
disappears apparently so distressed from Brutus’ recent aloofness. There’s a hardworking
company also made up of Pandora Colin, who speaks verse so naturally, and Royce
Pierreson. Lily Nichol’s soothsayer (depicted here as a single mum wandering
the streets) also stands out amid all the suits.
Hastie’s production is sharp, has the pace of a thriller and
brings Shakespeare’s play down from the gods to the murky world of politics.
Julius Caesar plays at Sheffield’s Crucible
Theatre until 10th June.