Royal Shakespeare Company's Julius Caesar begins performances March 18 at the theatre's venue in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. Performances for Shakespeare's political tragedy are set to run through April 8.
The cast stars Nigel Barrett in the titular role, joined by Jamal Ajala as Lucius, Mercedes Assad as Marullus/Artemidorus, Annabel Baldwin as Soothsayer, Matthew Bulgo as Casca, Ella Dacres as Ocatvaius Caesar, Joshua Dunn as Cinna the Poet/Popilius/Carpenter, Katie Erich as Caius Ligarius/Cobbler, Niamh Finlay as Pindarus, Kelly Gough as Cassius, Gina Isaac as Decius Brutus, Robert Jackson as Flavius/Cinna the Conspirator, Tom Kanji as Metellus Cimber/Lepidus, Nadi Kemp-Sayfi as Portia, Jimena Larraguivel as Calpurnia, Pedro Leandro as Trebonius, Matt Ray Brown as Cicero, William Robinson as Mark Antony, and Thalissa Teixeira as Brutus.
The Shakespeare political play follows the Julius Caesar, the leader of ancient Rome who holds vast power, and the conspirators who murder him. As power shifts, the moral ambiguity of their actions and motivations is exposed. Civil war breaks out as the leading conspirators much face the chaos and superstition which has filled the vacuum left by Caesar's demise. How far will they go for their politics?
Atri Banerjee directs for the first time at Royal Shakespeare Company. He helms the creative team which comprises designer Rosanna Vize, costume designers Rosanna Vize and Tomás Palmer, lighting designer Lee Curran, sound designer Claire Windsor, movement director Jennifer Jackson, fight directors Rachel Brown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown, and music director Lindsey Miller. Alison Bomber serves as voice and text coach. Music is by Jasmin Kent Rodgman.
The show will go on a tour of the U.K beginning April 20 at Canterbury's The Marlowe. Subsequent stops will be made at Truro's Hall for Cornwall, Bradford's Alhambra, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Grand Theatre Blackpool, Nottingham's Theatre Royal and Concert Hall, Noriwch's Theatre Royal, and York Theatre Royal. The tour will conclude at Salford's The Lowry where it will play June 20-24. A six-woman chorus of local community leaders will be featured at each tour stop.
"As the RSC embarks on a new chapter, with a fresh and fearless determination to look at ourselves and our world through the lens of Shakespeare’s plays, all of our creative activity in 2023 will address questions of power," said acting artistic director Erica Whyman in an earlier statement. "Who has it, who doesn’t, how does it change a human being, when does it corrupt, and how might it disrupt and liberate?"
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