PLAYS : Julius Ceaser
I;ll admit I was a little apprehensive about this production; weighing in at 2 hours 50 I was worried this uncut version was going to drag somewhat. Was I wrong! The first half, all 2 hours of it, was fantastic, drawing you in to the to-ing and fro-ing, the scheming and over all the crowd swaying speeches.
The text was easily communicated, I don't know if this was because of excellent direction or if the language of the play was easier than some of others, but I hardly had to decode at all as I was watching.
The show was on at the Barbican, which seems to like spending stupid amounts of money - there was a cast of some 50 or more chorus, and the sets were enormous and expensive. It's not something I really understand, coming from a relatively minimalist background, but maybe the audiences they are aiming at wouldn't understand it if they didn't see a horse when the actors rode in on one... Of course lighting was excellent and the sound was pretty good if a bit obvious (underpinned by a single, low, droning note all the way through. not too original)
What was the one thing I found missing? Brutus. Sure, the character was there, but his plight, his motivations and therefore his tragedy were not a strong focus. In fact, there were a number of times when I didn't even recognise him, which made some scenes confusing (especially the one where some guy pretends to be him - which I didn't realise because I don't recognise the guy myself!). I ended up having to piece together what was happening to him intellectually rather than the play telling me. This rather detracted from the emotional aspect of his story.
All in all, I came away thanking Jo for distracting me from seeing Electric Eel Shock and Mika Bomb (my two other options for the evening, though I was originally going to Anthony's - makes four things in one night!). I think it was probably better than the King Lear I saw earlier in the year, but not as new as I'm more familiar with the play.
The text was easily communicated, I don't know if this was because of excellent direction or if the language of the play was easier than some of others, but I hardly had to decode at all as I was watching.
The show was on at the Barbican, which seems to like spending stupid amounts of money - there was a cast of some 50 or more chorus, and the sets were enormous and expensive. It's not something I really understand, coming from a relatively minimalist background, but maybe the audiences they are aiming at wouldn't understand it if they didn't see a horse when the actors rode in on one... Of course lighting was excellent and the sound was pretty good if a bit obvious (underpinned by a single, low, droning note all the way through. not too original)
What was the one thing I found missing? Brutus. Sure, the character was there, but his plight, his motivations and therefore his tragedy were not a strong focus. In fact, there were a number of times when I didn't even recognise him, which made some scenes confusing (especially the one where some guy pretends to be him - which I didn't realise because I don't recognise the guy myself!). I ended up having to piece together what was happening to him intellectually rather than the play telling me. This rather detracted from the emotional aspect of his story.
All in all, I came away thanking Jo for distracting me from seeing Electric Eel Shock and Mika Bomb (my two other options for the evening, though I was originally going to Anthony's - makes four things in one night!). I think it was probably better than the King Lear I saw earlier in the year, but not as new as I'm more familiar with the play.
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