Extraordinary exploration of republican failure
Julius Caesar
Tron Theatre, Glasgow
Daniel Getting Married
Oran Mor, Glasgow
In recent weeks, the question of how to end the rule of an overweening dictator has become an urgent one, for many across Europe and the world; and it’s a situation that lends force and poignancy to this new touring version of Julius Caesar, created by the young Glasgow-based Company Of Wolves, which draws on the tradition of Polish laboratory theatre to create striking productions with strong elements of movement and – often – of music and song.
What’s striking about its staging of Shakespeare’s great tragedy, though, is the unusual austerity of its focus on the mighty poetry of the text, one of the most quoted in the whole English-language canon. The dark stage is furnished only with a few chairs, and a single small mobileplatform;thefive-strong cast moves fluently and powerfully around the space, but never ventures into the subtly different language of dance.
Instead,directorewandownie simply allows Shakespeare’s great verse, spoken with thoroughness and clarity in a deftly shortened version, to speak for itself. Esme Bayley, as chief conspirator Brutus, leads the cast through an extraordinary tragic exploration of the ultimate failure of those of republican mind who want to end Caesar’s dominance in Rome; and whose dream of killing his imperious spirit by simply murderingtheman,inabloody stabbing in the Capitol, eventuallyprovesbothfutileandcounter-productive.
The brilliance of Shakespeare’s play – with its famous funeral scene, demonstrating the power of emotive populism tosweepawayrepublicanprinciples–shinessosharply,inthis moment,thatsomeelementsof it might have been written yesterday. Bayley receives powerful support from Belle Jones as a glowingly arrogant Caesar, Lawrence Boothman as a passionate Cassius and Megan Lovat as a startlingly forceful Mark Anthony.
There’s no question, here, of Brutus, Caesar or Anthony being played as women; these are simply powerful young female actors, flexing their creative muscles on some of the greatest male characters ever written. Yet the freshness of their perspective helps make the play anew; and if the end comes suddenly, without one or two of Shakespeare’s most famous lines, it leaves us all the more inclined to continue the debate about the political and ethical issues raised by this mighty tragedy.
There’s more comedy than tragedy in the drama Daniel Gettingmarried,setinachurch vestry somewhere in the Borders, where thirtysomething Daniel – played with robust emotion by Neil John Gibson – is getting ready for his wedding toboyfriendzach;yetthelaughterneverdetractsfromtheseriousness of the issues raised.
Helped or hindered by his vibrant mother Joy – a star turn by Ann Louise Ross – Daniel is just burnishing his buttonhole for the big event when exboyfriend Gabriel suddenly appears, not only reminding Daniel of the intensity of their relationship but also challenging the values and culture of gay couples who are keen, like Daniel and Zach, to mimic the marital and domestic behaviour of the straight world. It’s a fascinating conversation about whether gay counter-culture could and should have something more to offer than a kind of compliant merging with the planet-wreckingnormsofordinary suburban life.
Julius Caesar on tour from 19 April, including Summerhall, Edinburgh, 19 and 20 May. Daniel Getting Married at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 5-9 April.