The
final production of the Actors' Shakespeare Project's inaugural season, "Julius
Caesar"
starts off like a final rehearsal, with actor's rehearsing fight moves,
conversations about their parts, a brief rendition of "Friends, Romans,
countrymen..." and trying on costume accessories. This backstage chaos
segues imperceptibly into the opening comic scene between the tribunes, Flavius
& Marullus, and the workingmen. The two authority figures are played by Bobbie
Steinbach, seen
last fall in ASP's "Richard III" as the Queen Mother, and Marya
Lowry who played
Buckingham in the same production. Owen Doyle, bearing a slight resemblance to
the Bard, plays the Cobbler, bad jokes and all. Wearing an Elizabethan collar
he's more impressive in the next scene as the Soothsayer. It becomes clear that
this will be a barebones production of the Roman Play, long a part of the
American Theatre, with new takes on its traditions.
The
company has dismantled the temporary thrust added to the small stage in
historic Durrell Hall and arranged seating in a wide arc under the horseshoe
balcony with the back rows raised. The main acting area is a rug laid in the
center of the floor with platforms on either side leading up to the small
permanent stage. A table with stools sits in front of the main aisle until the
final battle. Director Robert Scanlan, a literary manager from the Brustein years of the ART
and former president of Cambridge's fabled Poets' Theatre, spreads the action
across the space using aisles as the main entrances, saving the stage mostly
for Caesar, played by Greg Steres who appeared as Edw. IV and Tyrell last fall. Calpurnia,
played by Jennie Israel who was Elizabeth, and IRNE winner Dorian Christian Baucum, new to ASP with training from
Shakespeare & Co playing Antony are established as well, while the two main
characters converse close to the audience. Brutus is played by Robert Walsh, who directed ASP's previous
show, "Measure for Measure". Walsh, an experienced N.E.
Shakespearean, survived playing MacDuff opposite Jay O. Sanders' scottish king
on the Common two summers ago. Among his accomplishments he's a qualified fight
director, though Ted Hewlett from the Emerson College Faculty is the fight
choreographer for this show. Cassius is done by Benjamin Evett, the founder of ASP, a former
ART company member, who directed the first show in the fall. He survived doing
Banquo in the previously mentioned CSC production. Both these principal players
give straight forward interpretations of their roles.
As
the conspiracy evolves, Steinbach joins them as Casca, giving a comic bent to
that bluff old man. David Evett, the senior member of the company, then runs into the
old hothead as the storm begins, as Cicero, the first of several such cameos.
The rest of the conspirators who meet at Brutus's that night are Bill
Barclay, Tony
Berg, and Andrew
Winson, with
Israel and Lowry standing in uncredited. Khalil Fleming, fresh from playing Jack at
Wheelock Family Theatre, gets to stay up way past his bedtime as Lucius,
Brutus' young servant. Lowry appears next in her main role as tough-minded
Portia, establishing her Stoic credentials. The only member of the company who
doesn't appear except in crowd scenes until just before the break is Gus
Kelley, who
plays Octavius Caesar.. He was last seen at Boston Playwrights' in a lead for
the premiere of Ginger Lazarus' "Matter Familias" and works regularly
with Shakespeare Now! touring schools.
Scanlan
stages the assassination in slowmotion with Hewlett's help, which takes a bit
too long. There's too much choreographic plot before Brutus run the suspected
tyrant through, though it does make an impression. Evett Sr. as Publius stands
in for the rest of the Senate. Baucum then has a chance to establish Antony's
scheming nature and avoids becoming the conspirator's second victim. After
being helped up and off, Steres then appears downstage sitting at the table
applying streaky whiteface while Brutus makes the conspirators' case to the
crowd.. He then walks to the stage left proscenium balancing the bust of Caesar
which has stood stage right since the opening to listen to Marc Antony. The ghost
of Caesar appears right away in this production; there is no body onstage.
Judicious cuts make the mutiny scene which follows build quite rapidly. After
the crowd rushes off, Antony makes his brief comment about "Mischief"
and Octavius appears ready for battle. It's intermission; Cinna the poet
escapes being done in by the mob.
There
are similar judicious cuts in Acts IV and V, attempting to sort out the new
names, which every Elizabethan schoolboy could have known. The bloody rule of
the Triumvirs is established, with Evett as ineffectual Lepidus. Brutus and
Cassius, the surviving conspirators, quarrel in the field surrounded by the
armies they've raised to counteract the Triumvirs, who've slaughtered much of
the Senate in Rome, not merely the other six assassins. The confrontation in
Brutus' tent, essentially the agon of the second half of the play, confirms
both actors' mastery of Shakespeare's verse.The most of the cast becomes
Brutus' faction with Lowry in the key role of Messala, a general. Israel
appears as Cassius's servant, the Greek Pindarus. Walsh handles the news of Portia's
suicide by swallowing coals with Stoic calm, an emotion perhaps even harder to
fathom these days. Steres reappears as Caesar's ghost, but after the first
haunting of Brutus is slightly distracting as he halting moves across the back
of the stage. Static appearances at various locations would be a better
premonition of his surprising role in the finale.
All
in all, an effective rendition and often moving of this classic by an company
which continues to grow, once again letting the Bard speak for himself. The
solid performances do the cast credit without producing any star turns. The
actors build on their past performances in other more concept-driven
productions by getting back to basics. The configuration of the audience under
the balcony on rises improves the acoustics of the hall. Lighting ace John
R. Malinowski
solves the problems of this antique space as he has done elsewhere, from the
Tremont Temple to the Boston Common. Under Hewlett's supervision, experienced
members of the troupe manage to wield some fairly lethal cutlery with
considerable conviction.
ASP
has scheduled three more plays next season, based on this year's success.
They're doing "King Lear" next fall, "Twelfth Night" in the
winter, and "All's Well That Ends Well" in the spring. No casting or
venues have been announced, though interesting speculations abound. The current
renaissance in theatre in Boston finally includes a company which can don the
mantle of the old Boston Shakespeare troupe, and outdo that fabled ensemble.