Julius Caesar

Politics in the Park

Julius Caesar

by William Shakespeare

Richmond Shakespeare Society at York House, Twickenham until 22^nd July

Review by Andrew Lawston

York House’s Fountain Gardens provide a suitably classical backdrop to Richmond Shakespeare Society’s outdoor production of Julius Caesar, with the “Naked Ladies” and their horses rearing high above the temporary stage’s scaffold.  With deckchairs and picnic blankets dotting the lawn, which is surrounded by tall hedges, the venue is perfect for outdoor theatre.

First, the front of house team are always among the hardest-working members of any production, but Anna Bianchi’s well-rehearsed team deserve special praise after a broken traffic light in Isleworth, and subsequent traffic chaos, delayed our arrival until well into the opening scenes.  We were shown to our seats efficiently and without fuss, and even managed to buy a couple of drinks on the way.

By the time we are seated, conspirators grumble about Caesar’s ambition, while offstage Rome’s commoners cheer as Marc Antony offers him a crown.  Enhanced by discreet headset microphones, Richmond Shakespeare Society’s cast are confident and sure-footed with Shakespeare’s text, complete with slight adjustments where some roles have been gender-flipped: most notably Francesca Ellis’s honourably conflicted Marcia Brutus, but also Josie Teale’s quietly authoritative Decia Brutus, and Lily Tomlinson’s Metulla Cimber, and Esme Niblett’s Pindarus.

The conspirators, along with Ben Collingwood Best’s Trebonius and Jason Rosenthal’s Cinna, overcome Brutus’s scruples and loyalty to Julius Caesar and the plot goes ahead, despite the entreaties of Brutus’s wife Portia, and Caesar’s wife Calpurnia, with both Fiona Poole’s and Sarah Sharpe’s respectively shining in their all-too-brief roles.  The cast is uniformly excellent, and all are putting tremendous energy into the performance.

Caesar almost stays at home to miss his historic appointment at the senate on the Ides of March.  The superstitious Roman, shaken by Albi Best’s warnings as a particularly enigmatic Soothsayer, and Calpurnia’s prophetic dreams, are given extra weight by a tempestuous night full of earthquakes, gaping graves, and strange lights.  It seems almost tempting fate to attempt an al fresco production of a play that includes these plot points, but for once, even this unpredictable English summer weather plays along, with little more than a gentle breeze to remind spectators that they are at the mercy of the elements.

While Ellis’s Brutus and Stuart Watson’s Caius Cassius dominate the play’s first half, along with Matthew Flexman’s statesman-like Caesar, the second half sees Scott Tilley’s partying Mark Antony come into his own as he joins forces with Octavius Caesar and stirs the people of Rome into revolt against the conspirators.  Caesar’s funeral is always a key scene, and the audience are drawn into the action as Tom Shore and Theo Byrne, who play Casca and Lucius elsewhere, gently heckle the orators, and grumble along to themselves with the speeches.  A personal highlight was Shore’s quiet “Ooh, I can’t stand those Nervii,” in response to Mark Anthony’s reference to the Belgic tribe.

Despite the modern dress wardrobe design from Miriam King and John Gilbert, this production is a straightforward staging of Julius Caesar in the round, without frills or gimmicks, although as the shadows grow longer, Marc Pearce’s ambitious lighting design comes into its own for the climactic battle scenes.  A play about the dangers posed by populist leaders could hardly be more timely, but director Simon Bartlett sensibly refrains from hammering the point home with any overt references to contemporary personalities.

While the set is minimal, the setting sun helps to convey the play’s tone.  As the shadows lengthen, and the evening sun gives way to twilight, so Rome’s political stability unravels, and the conspirators move from the elation of their apparently successful coup, to fighting for their lives.

The climactic battles take place after nightfall, and the lighting and smoke effects are particularly effective.  There is a slight disconnect as the cast, now almost entirely dressed in camouflage gear, blast away at each other with automatic rifles and pistols with no effect, only to then wipe each other out the next moment using small knives and short pieces of Scott Tilley’s fight choreography, but this is a perennial problem when it comes to updating Shakespeare.

Julius Caesar is a bold choice for outdoor performance, but Richmond Shakespeare Society have delivered a taut, exciting production, full of strong performances, that will be remembered long after the summer months have passed.

Andrew Lawston, July 2023

Photography by Simone Best