DAVID YEARSLEY is fascinated by the account of four composers who transformed their experiences of the second world war and the Holocaust into deeply moving works of art
Latest editorial
Cry havoc
GORDON PARSONS applauds the confidence and purpose in a new production of Shakespeare’s most overtly political play
POLITICAL SPEAKING: Annabel Baldwin (Soothsayer) and Joshua Dunn (Cinna The Poet)
[Marc Brenner © RSC]
PETER MASON thrills to the sound of south London-born Yussef Dayes, and the galaxy of musicians drawn into his orbit
From post-human revolution in Puerto Rico to trans poetics and queer mythmaking, these three books that imagine new ways of being together
JAMIE BRITTON recommends that we all buy at least two copies of a remarkable book of poems
Re-releases from Iain Matthews, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and The Charlie Daniels Band
JAMIE BRITTON recommends that we all buy at least two copies of a remarkable book of poems
Julius Caesar
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Stratford-upon-Avon
“HOW many ages hence shall this our lofty scene be acted over.” Shakespeare knew Julius Caesar, his most overtly political play, was presenting a universal message.
Its basic and familiar plot — the assassination of an autocrat, followed by the downfall of the assassins, to be replaced by even worse tyrants — has lent itself to numerous settings from ancient Rome to Mussolini’s blackshirts.
In Atri Banerjee’s stripped-down production there is no theatrical window-dressing, no togas or fascist flags, swords or Kalashnikovs, just a bare platform stage on which the large cast emerge, dressed as if for a first rehearsal.
Similar stories
GORDON PARSONS salutes the apt return of Brecht’s vaudevillian cartoon drama that retains the vitality of the boxing or the circus ring
GORDON PARSONS is blown away by a superb production of Rostand’s comedy of verbal panache and swordmanship
GORDON PARSONS acknowledges the authority with which Sarah Kane’s theatrical justification for suicide has resonance today
GORDON PARSONS is disappointed by an unsubtle production of this comedy of upper middle class infidelity