Southern Utah University’s Department of Theatre, Dance, and Arts Administration will be opening their first mainstage show of the 2024-2025 academic year. William Shakespeare’s history and tragedy “Julius Caesar,” directed by Britannia Howe, will open on Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. in the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre. Additional performances will take place on Sept. 28 and 30 and Oct. 3, 4 and 5. It’s free to SUU students, faculty and staff.
“Julius Caesar” is a retelling of the real life assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar by a group of senators led by Brutus and Cassius on the Ides of March, and the subsequent civil war. General knowledge of Caesar’s assassination make this an easier show for most audiences to follow.
“That’s a big thing with Shakespeare, is that you sit there like, ‘what’s happening?’” said Cameron Rey, who plays multiple characters in the show. “This show, I think, because people are kind of already familiar with it and it [having] really recognizable characters, is easier to follow.”
Howe’s rendition of “Julius Caesar” takes the Shakespeare classic set just before the Roman Empire and sets it during the 1960s in what Howe calls a “neo-noir” telling.
“I think there’s so many parallels between the 1960s and what actually happened in Rome,” said Emma Cox, who plays Brutus. “I think that is so cool, because in Rome, you had this transitioning of power and civil war, and people were scared and unsure. It was just a time of intense energy, but also uncertainty. And that really parallels the 1960s.”
There are many themes to be found within “Julius Caesar,” centered around the concepts of fate, freewill and friendship.
“I think we tried really hard to lean into the friendship aspect, because there’s so many connections with people that we got to explore,” said cast member Charlie Stewart.
Working with the friendship aspect of the show, Howe sought to make the audience root for the anti-heroes at the forefront of the show, due to the devotion between the characters.
“In a world where right and wrong blur, the characters’ struggles resonate with our own experiences of friendship, fate, and the consequences of our actions,” said Howe. “It’s this complexity that makes ‘Julius Caesar’ a timeless exploration of the human condition.”
The rehearsal process for “Julius Caesar” began before the semester started, giving the show enough rehearsal time to begin performances in time for the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s High School Shakespeare Competition. Actors spent time before rehearsals started doing script work and research, especially due to the show being a history.
“When I started doing research for the role, I immediately started researching who these people were in real life, and I found out a lot of cool information,” said Cox. “I think it’s really informed my choices as an actor for the character and my relationships to other characters on stage.”
Audiences are encouraged to bundle up and enjoy as the action sucks them into the world of the show.
“It is so much more than what [the audience will] expect,” said Cox. “We all, I think, have preconceived notions about what the show should be and what’s gonna happen… … the world that we’ve built, I think is so unique.”
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Author: Tessa Cheshire
Photographer: Tessa Cheshire
arts@suunews.net
