Tag Archives: Theo Holloway

JULIUS CAESAR

★★★

Southwark Playhouse Borough

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JULIUS CAESAR at Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★

“Overall, this is an exciting if imperfect production”

Icarus Theatre’s new production of this Shakesperean historical tragedy brings the story of conspiracy and the murder of Rome’s would-be first emperor into a dystopian near future, where technology has advanced further that we can imagine and is omnipresent in the fabric of the city and our lives.

The play opens with Marullus (Angus Dunican) presenting a diatribe against Caesar (Will Travis) projected onto one of the three movable and openable cylinders that form the stage. His delivery is reminiscent of a YouTube live stream with comments from viewers appearing below his head and is clearly an allusion towards the media climate of the present day, in which social media moulds politics. In this way, the production immediately foregrounds its innovative use of technology, including multiple levels of projection, messages being delivered directly to characters, as via instant messaging apps, as well as surtitles styled like chat boxes that rearrange themselves to follow the actors’ position on stage. Political language in the style of online discourse (#notmyemperor) is projected onto the background, demonstrative of the opinions of the population of Rome to the events happening at the highest levels of society. The surtitles are an excellent addition and improve the accessibility of a work that adheres closely to Shakespeare’s beautiful, if knotty, verse. Their inclusion also creates a production that is equally open to deaf and hearing audiences, a key aim of Icarus Theatre, which is to be commended.

Other choices around the use of technology are less effective, however. The decision to have Caesar appear only as a Big Brother-style projection, including in the moment of his death, serves to highlight the way he has elevated himself above the Roman people, but makes less sense when he is visited in his home – if he were so clearly aloof with everyone, would the rabble-rousing speech made by Mark Antony (James Heatlie) in the wake of his death have had the same impact? Nevertheless, the creative team including director Max Lewendel, projection designer Will Monks, and creative captioning consultant Samantha Baines deserve a lot of credit for this strikingly new production.

The costumes have a retro-sci-fi feel, with long hair, dark eye makeup, and baggy, almost punky clothes, which some will love. The casting also breaks with tradition: many of Shakespeare’s male characters are played by women including Brutus (Rowan Winter), Trebonius (Eleanor Crosswell), and Caius Ligarius (Yvonne Grundy), and there are frequent scenes of queer intimacy, challenging traditional notions of heteronormativity.

The main cast of eleven, with many multi-rolling, is good and standouts performers include Michael Skellern as a sensitive and jealous Cassius, James Heatlie as the loyal and persuasive Mark Antony, and Gabrielle Sheppard as Casca and Portia, Brutus’s wife – a role to which she brings great emotional resonance while the couple discuss Brutus’s withdrawal from their relationship.

Overall, this is an exciting if imperfect production. The use of technology, especially the surtitles to improve accessibility, as well as the challenges to traditional ideas of gender and sexuality is to be lauded. However, at times the production techniques prove to be somewhat distracting. It could be also argued that the text of the play itself already contains the necessary material to assess today’s political climate – from gifted orators riling up the crowds to the machinations of an elite far removed the general population – without the gestures towards an enhanced social media-like commentar


JULIUS CAESAR at Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 13th September 2024

by Rob Tomlinson

Photography by Adrian Warner

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues

DORIAN: THE MUSICAL | ★★½ | July 2024
THE BLEEDING TREE | ★★★★ | June 2024
FUN AT THE BEACH ROMP-BOMP-A-LOMP!! | ★★★ | May 2024
MAY 35th | ★★★½ | May 2024
SAPPHO | ★★ | May 2024
CAPTAIN AMAZING | ★★★★★ | May 2024
WHY I STUCK A FLARE UP MY ARSE FOR ENGLAND | ★★★★★ | April 2024
SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE VALLEY OF FEAR | ★★½ | March 2024
POLICE COPS: THE MUSICAL | ★★★★ | March 2024
CABLE STREET – A NEW MUSICAL | ★★★ | February 2024

JULIUS CAESAR

JULIUS CAESAR

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Building the Wall – 4 Stars

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Building

Building the Wall

Park Theatre

Reviewed – 4th May 2018

★★★★

“fearlessly addresses the concerns of the Trump-era presidency with chilling historical references”

 

In a prison interrogation room in 2019, Rick has one chance to tell reporter Gloria his side of the story. In the aftermath of a terrorist attack in Time Square, the American president orders a “round up”: the mass deportation of immigrants. When other countries refuse to engage in this scheme of ‘repatriation’, the number of detainees sky rockets and America is running out of places to put them. In the middle of all this is Rick. Rick runs a detainee prison. He is dealing with overcrowding, cholera, a heat wave and now governmental pressure. Months later, he is in prison himself, the President has been impeached and we are about to find out why. Bravely set only a stone’s throw into the future (although written in 2016), Robert Schenkkan’s dystopian narrative is a sinister vision of the possible consequences of a violent anti-immigration governmental stance, and begs the question: is it a crime to follow orders?

Jez Bond directs the UK premiere of ‘Building the Wall’ flawlessly. We watch the interview through the glass of an interrogation room (designed by Sarah Beaton). The room itself is bright white, bare apart from the obvious table and chairs, a water dispenser and a black mirror/window set into the wall. The sound (Theo Holloway) and lighting (Sally Ferguson) design are detailed and intelligent. We can only hear the characters speak when Gloria’s sound recorder is on, and the interview is underscored by sounds of violence from the prison, reminding the audience of what Rick’s everyday has become. As the play begins, long white ceiling lights flicker off, section by section.

Angela Griffin plays the African American academic, the only person Rick has granted access to. Trevor White plays Rick. Both are infinitely believable and I cannot fault their performances, but the characters themselves lack a certain level of depth and complexity. There is very little tension between them, meaning the ‘thriller’ element that the play defines itself with is missing, and the characters often serve as vehicles for the narrative. We do get a small amount of insight into Gloria’s life, her experiences of racism at an early age for example. Schenkkan also positions Rick as a cog within the system despite his differentiation between “the illegals” and “real Americans”, which adds some nuance to his character. However, given the structure of the play, their predominant function is to push the plot forwards and they have little development of their own.

Despite this, ‘Building the Wall’ is an intensely thought-provoking play, that fearlessly addresses the concerns of the Trump-era presidency with chilling historical references – a warning that must be heeded internationally. It is a brazenly political play that succeeds in delivering a message that needs to be heard. Whilst the characters are at points reduced to narrative vehicles, Griffin and White deliver competent and convincing performances, and the production is slick and well-done.

 

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Mark Douet

 


Building the Wall

Park Theatre until 2nd June

 

Related
Previously reviewed at this venue
A Princess Undone | ★★★ | February 2018
Vincent River | ★★★★ | March 2018
Pressure | ★★★★ | April 2018

 

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