Photo by Stephen Grossman
Julius Caesar
by William Shakespeare
The Powerhouse Theatre
(3116 2nd Street, Santa Monica 90405)
A production of the Declan Adams Theatre
Date of reviewed performance: September 11, 2009
Cast
Julius Caesar - Jessica Temple
Marcus Brutus - J.R. Esposito
Caius Cassius - Lovelle Liquigan
Caska/Plebian/Messala - Zack Price
Decius Brutus/Soothsayer - Max Smythe
Cinna/Pindarus - Anna Kate Mohler
Metellus Cimber/Lucilius - John Wallis
Caius Ligarus/Lepidus - Christine Terrisse
Octavius Caesar/Trebonius/Flavius - Leigh Dunham
Mark Antony - Jeff Holden
Calpurnia/Cato - Erwin Tuazon
Portia/Titinius - Eliza Kiss
Lucius/Cinna the Poet - Lourdes Uribe
Murellus/Artemidorous - John Brockmeier
Last night opened a three week run of what is arguably one of Shakespeare's most oft-quoted histories.
Julius Caesar is being produced at The Powerhouse Theatre in Santa Monica, which is a difficult theatre to find as it is shrouded beneath inadequate street lighting (parking is even more elusive) - so come early. But once it's been found it is a lovely space, featuring a surprisingly roomy courtyard entrance and a traditional proscenium arch framing a stage luxuriously spacious by Los Angeles theater standards.
Frank Astran's set is a rather straight-forward series of staggered walls, draped with cloth and angled toward center stage where sits a podium that is the center of most of the plays' action. After a brief moment of silence in commemoration of the date, the show opens with the familiar scenes of Senators Marcus Brutus and Caius Cassius plotting the murder of Julius Caesar, Rome's new dictator. It is the Ides of March, after all. What is
not familiar (and what will make this production a breath of fresh air to even the most dedicated of Shakespeare's patrons) is the creative sex-blind casting. Declan Adams Theatre has played with mix-casting character sexes before (most recently in
As You Like It) but never to this great of an effect. In this production, our Julius Caesar is female, but Marc Antony remains male. There is a palpable chemistry between the two of them (Jessica Temple and Jeff Holden, respectively) that causes Antony's loyalty, grief and vengeance for Caesar to take on the shades of a distraught lover, which changes the tone of the play entirely.
Other mixed-sex casting includes turning the role of Caius Cassius over to the more than capable skills of Lovelle Liquigan, whom I am very excited to see in a dramatic role. Cassius is manipulating and calculating in all of the ways we've known him(her?) to be for the past 400 years, but Liquigan's performance brings an emotional vulnerability to the role that is generally absent. Her delivery is jarringly staccato at moments, but even then her face and body language convey a new Cassius - less the villain of cloth-draped memories and more the man who truly believes in his greater good.
Not subject to mixed-sex casting are the roles of Brutus, Portia and Caska. J.R. Esposito turns in a powerful performance as a tender, rational and loving Brutus. Esposito is one of the finest actors I've seen in L.A. theatre in quite some time and if you can think of no other reason to attend this production, then do it for him. You will be able to brag to your friends one day and say, "I saw him when..." Eliza Kiss is wonderful as Portia, the original desperate housewife. Zack Price plays a variety of characters, as many of the actors in this show do, but he is stand-out in the role of Caska, with great comedic timing on line deliveries.
Another artistic device that is unique to this production - but works less well than the casting choices - is the scene of Caesar's death on the Senate floor. It is choreographed (by Cheryl Texiera) to resemble something of a ballroom dance. It is an effective way to deal glamorously with some necessarily messy business, but something about the odd staging of it makes it come off rather comically. It is not helped by the choice in music, which gives the whole thing an over-the-top, high melodrama quality. When the deed is done and the perpatrators gather around the victim, a scene from "Clue: The Movie" comes to mind. I'm sure this was not the effect the director had in mind.
Overall, the pacing of this production moves very quickly, only slowing down in the final scene. Of course, then is slows down ALOT. Some of it can probably be blamed on the limited entry and exit points on the stage and the fact that Team Brutus and Team Antony have to repeatedly find ways on and off without literally running into each other. But part of it is due to the slowing down of on-stage action too. It all makes the scene feel incredibly long and the unease takes most of the wind out of the finale - which is a shame because it is such a powerful and energetic show until then.
Julius Caesar runs from September 11-27 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20 at the door and online.
Directed by Erwin Tuazon
Produced by Jeff Hirbour and Erwin Tuazon
Scenic Design by Frank Astran
Sound Design and Costume Design by Erwin Tuazon
Lighting Design by Karyn Lawrence
Sound and Light Board Operation by Brian Schrock
Julius Caesar:
