Review - RSC's Julius Caesar
So yesterday I went to Stratford, got soaking wet in a terrible rainstorm and saw a PLAY.
I'm not sure if 500 years is enough time, so there are spoilers ahead for William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. It is a tragedy, though, so you can probably guess what happens...
Okay, there were some dodgy moments (Sam's entire first bit of dialogue he directed TO THE BACK OF THE STAGE and was talking quietly anyway, so we couldn't hear him D:) but overall? YES AWESOME.
Obviously, I came at it with a sizeable bias, because I think Sam Troughton is a brilliant actor. That is, afterall, the reason I went to see this. I'm splitting my review (such as it is) into two fairly self-explanatory sections. Beware mild perving. Enjoy.
THE SHALLOW
Costume - The costumes in the first act all sort of suggest togas and Roman-ness without the hassle of wrapping fifteen actors in yards of fabric. Brutus' (Sam's) is all white; in fact he's the only character to wear all white, supporting the idea that he is the Only Noble Man left in Rome. Yay Brutus!
His is also one of the least dorky costumes (poor Cassius has these weird pleated trousers, for example) although it is still quite silly. So I decided to look at his arms instead of the costume, because they were available and I am, as previously stated, shallow. Two actors did get shirtless, but unfortunately they were Caesar (who's terrifyingly smooth and muscular older-man chest was hypnotic.) and Cassius.
Acting - Sam Troughton's scene with Portia (Brutus' wife) was awesome, really intense, and even though Portia's Lowly Woman business was quite annoying (nobody's fault but the Bard's) I wish they could have had more to do together.
He had a lot of great soliloquies, pacing the stage and engaging the audience, and he really owned those moments. His voice does generally carry well, and even if I wasn't quite grasping every Classical reference, I was still a very happy person.
SECOND ACT THOUGH OMG. That act is all military camp business, and they all changed out of their togas into LEATHER-BASED ATTIRE. And it did something awesome to Mr Troughton, because every time he came on in that costume it was a moment of pure awesomeness, he really just commanded attention.
I did briefly think they were all shirtless, but they were in fact wearing weird, mud-smeared body-stocking things under their shoulder-armour, so that was a disappointment.
I can confirm, however, that Sam Troughton's legs look AWESOME in black knee-high leather boots. He has very slim ankles.
There was also a slightly hilarious scene in the battle camp where Brutus asks for his servant (Lucious, who he was always yelling for in a wild-eyed kind of way) to play him music. Except he kept having lines like "Lay your hands upon the instrument, boy," which came perilously close to making me laugh. So thank you, friends, for permanently guttering my brain.
For the record, I am perfectly happy to watch Sam Troughton sit on a stage looking haunted for a good five minutes.
THE SERIOUS
Taking a step away from my bias, the stand out performance was from Greg Hicks playing Caesar. He made the character funny and likeable, even though he was vain and proud. His scene with Calphurnia (his wife) was really well done on all fronts.
Sam was excellent, tracking a transformation from softly-spoken nobleman to SHOUTING MILITARY PERSON, although he really could have spoken up at the beginning. He's believable as a man of power, and a man who doubts himself and ultimately lets others manipulate him into a really bad decision. (Arguably, though, his worst mistake is not killing Mark Anthony. So maybe he's just too nice for his own good). He does a lot of great intense eye work, and his background stuff is always in-character.
Cassius was patchy; he was much better at the manipulative stuff in the first half than the out-and-out MILITARY of later on.
Mark Anthony was very, very good, he handled the "Friends, Romans, countrymen" speech fantastically, and I believed him as the slightly deranged executioner he becomes in the second half.
Towards the end, when everyone started falling on their swords I did get a little exhasperated. Especially Cassius. Dude didn't even wait for confirmation, just saw his tents burning and ran himself through. But everyone died very well, and when Mark Anthony's lot bore off Brutus' body into a pool of light behind the screens, I may have gotten a little choked up. It was sad! D:
There were some bits I didn't agree with - everyone had a lot of over-stylised hand gestures going on, which were hit and miss. I mean, hands are important (the scene after they've killed Caesar and all wash their hands in his blood is particularly excellent, and then Mark Anthony shaking all their blood-smeared hands was just creepy) but you can go overboard. And the fact that out of three sides to the thrust-stage that have audience on them, people were consistenly talking to the back of the auditorium. STOP DOING THAT.
Also, Shakespeare needed to write MOAR WOMEN. There were none at all in the second half (why the women weren't in the armour and making up numbers if nothing else is beyond me. It would have justified the body-stockings, if nothing else. Boob concealers!) and those in the first had limited scenes.
Overall, I enjoyed the hell out of this play. I can't really describe the coolness of the music or the nuances of performance (mostly because I'm still flailing over Sam's boots) so I will just say that if you have the means and the motive to see this play, go and do it.
OH! And I also saw David Troughton walking down the street as we were setting off today, so it was a festival of Troughton-ness all round :D
I'm not sure if 500 years is enough time, so there are spoilers ahead for William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. It is a tragedy, though, so you can probably guess what happens...
Okay, there were some dodgy moments (Sam's entire first bit of dialogue he directed TO THE BACK OF THE STAGE and was talking quietly anyway, so we couldn't hear him D:) but overall? YES AWESOME.
Obviously, I came at it with a sizeable bias, because I think Sam Troughton is a brilliant actor. That is, afterall, the reason I went to see this. I'm splitting my review (such as it is) into two fairly self-explanatory sections. Beware mild perving. Enjoy.
THE SHALLOW
Costume - The costumes in the first act all sort of suggest togas and Roman-ness without the hassle of wrapping fifteen actors in yards of fabric. Brutus' (Sam's) is all white; in fact he's the only character to wear all white, supporting the idea that he is the Only Noble Man left in Rome. Yay Brutus!
His is also one of the least dorky costumes (poor Cassius has these weird pleated trousers, for example) although it is still quite silly. So I decided to look at his arms instead of the costume, because they were available and I am, as previously stated, shallow. Two actors did get shirtless, but unfortunately they were Caesar (who's terrifyingly smooth and muscular older-man chest was hypnotic.) and Cassius.
Acting - Sam Troughton's scene with Portia (Brutus' wife) was awesome, really intense, and even though Portia's Lowly Woman business was quite annoying (nobody's fault but the Bard's) I wish they could have had more to do together.
He had a lot of great soliloquies, pacing the stage and engaging the audience, and he really owned those moments. His voice does generally carry well, and even if I wasn't quite grasping every Classical reference, I was still a very happy person.
SECOND ACT THOUGH OMG. That act is all military camp business, and they all changed out of their togas into LEATHER-BASED ATTIRE. And it did something awesome to Mr Troughton, because every time he came on in that costume it was a moment of pure awesomeness, he really just commanded attention.
I did briefly think they were all shirtless, but they were in fact wearing weird, mud-smeared body-stocking things under their shoulder-armour, so that was a disappointment.
I can confirm, however, that Sam Troughton's legs look AWESOME in black knee-high leather boots. He has very slim ankles.
There was also a slightly hilarious scene in the battle camp where Brutus asks for his servant (Lucious, who he was always yelling for in a wild-eyed kind of way) to play him music. Except he kept having lines like "Lay your hands upon the instrument, boy," which came perilously close to making me laugh. So thank you, friends, for permanently guttering my brain.
For the record, I am perfectly happy to watch Sam Troughton sit on a stage looking haunted for a good five minutes.
THE SERIOUS
Taking a step away from my bias, the stand out performance was from Greg Hicks playing Caesar. He made the character funny and likeable, even though he was vain and proud. His scene with Calphurnia (his wife) was really well done on all fronts.
Sam was excellent, tracking a transformation from softly-spoken nobleman to SHOUTING MILITARY PERSON, although he really could have spoken up at the beginning. He's believable as a man of power, and a man who doubts himself and ultimately lets others manipulate him into a really bad decision. (Arguably, though, his worst mistake is not killing Mark Anthony. So maybe he's just too nice for his own good). He does a lot of great intense eye work, and his background stuff is always in-character.
Cassius was patchy; he was much better at the manipulative stuff in the first half than the out-and-out MILITARY of later on.
Mark Anthony was very, very good, he handled the "Friends, Romans, countrymen" speech fantastically, and I believed him as the slightly deranged executioner he becomes in the second half.
Towards the end, when everyone started falling on their swords I did get a little exhasperated. Especially Cassius. Dude didn't even wait for confirmation, just saw his tents burning and ran himself through. But everyone died very well, and when Mark Anthony's lot bore off Brutus' body into a pool of light behind the screens, I may have gotten a little choked up. It was sad! D:
There were some bits I didn't agree with - everyone had a lot of over-stylised hand gestures going on, which were hit and miss. I mean, hands are important (the scene after they've killed Caesar and all wash their hands in his blood is particularly excellent, and then Mark Anthony shaking all their blood-smeared hands was just creepy) but you can go overboard. And the fact that out of three sides to the thrust-stage that have audience on them, people were consistenly talking to the back of the auditorium. STOP DOING THAT.
Also, Shakespeare needed to write MOAR WOMEN. There were none at all in the second half (why the women weren't in the armour and making up numbers if nothing else is beyond me. It would have justified the body-stockings, if nothing else. Boob concealers!) and those in the first had limited scenes.
Overall, I enjoyed the hell out of this play. I can't really describe the coolness of the music or the nuances of performance (mostly because I'm still flailing over Sam's boots) so I will just say that if you have the means and the motive to see this play, go and do it.
OH! And I also saw David Troughton walking down the street as we were setting off today, so it was a festival of Troughton-ness all round :D