Caesar through a modern lens
A new play explores what might have happened had Julius Caesar’s death been filmed on a cellphone.
Julius Caesar, which will run later this month at Wellington’s Gryphon Theatre, is directed by Chris O’Grady for Stagecraft and sees the classic William Shakespeare history-tragedy reimagined for the modern era.
O’Grady said he was intrigued by the play’s themes of power, honour, duty and loyalty. But he was also fascinated by Shakespeare’s understanding of the power of the mob.
‘‘The concern that one person can have too much power is what initially drives the conspirators to assassinate Caesar,’’ he said.
‘‘But the ‘rightness’ of that action suddenly comes under
question by a new power figure and because we’ve set the play in modern times, we thought we’d play with the idea of filming and replaying the assassination during the famous ‘Friends, Romans and countrymen’ speech.’’
O’Grady said he was not intending to make any particular political statement with the play.
‘‘The joy of Shakespeare for me is that his themes are timeless and are also immediately recognisable as human, not political traits.
‘‘All of us, in multiple spheres of our lives have been stirred by compelling oratory, or, more recently by startling images. But I want to give audiences a feel for what happens when they forget to critically interrogate those emotions before using them to make a decision.’’
For the play, audiences will be seated around the actors and will be addressed as senators, the crowd, the mob and as soldiers. They will also be encouraged to choose a position between team Caesar or team Brutus.
‘‘We want this to be an exciting and immersive experience.’’