Review: ‘Julius Caesar’ at Theatricum Botanicum
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There’s been much debate about who is hero and who villain in “Julius Caesar,” one of Shakespeare’s most tantalizingly ambiguous plays. Director Ellen Geer maintains a taut sense of moral ambiguity in her staging at the Theatricum Botanicum, but although her interpretation is often insightful and certainly brisk, she’s hindered by a choppy adaptation and weak links in the cast.
As far as the uncredited adaptation goes, one baffling truncation occurs in the scene in Brutus’ tent before the climactic battle. In the text, the ghost of Caesar confronts Brutus (Mike Peebler) after Brutus’ servants fall asleep. Here, Brutus’ servant boy, Lucius (Ella Martin), sings a lengthy lay before dozing off. The ghost of Caesar never makes an appearance or utters his immortal warning “… thou shalt see me at Philippi.” But why cut the ghost while lavishing so much time on the secondary character of Lucius? The emphasis seems sadly misplaced.
Other innovations are more successful. Making Brutus’ wife Portia (Susan Angelo) visibly pregnant invests the subsequent report of her suicide with added poignancy. And casting a woman, Melora Marshall, as the scheming Cassius, Brutus’ brother and the mastermind of the assassination conspiracy, is an audacious tack that works surprisingly well.
Fortunately, the protean Marshall, a Theatricum fixture, portrays Cassius without parody. Towered over by Peebler, her Cassius is clearly the runt of this family’s litter. The scene in which Brutus confronts his scheming sibling is one of the most fascinating and layered in the production. Thrown to the ground, the cowering Cassius wheedles the susceptible Brutus with the famously plaintive line “You love me not.”
Another effective tweak is making Marc Anthony (Aaron Hendry ) such a determined skirt-chaser. As Anthony pursues a nubile girl up the hillside, the undefended Caesar (Carl Palmer ) is rounded by his foes and slain.
A formidable performer with washboard abs and a commanding presence, Hendry handles the funeral oration without unnecessary bombast. As Brutus, Peebler tinges his moral certainty with the vaguely woebegone air of a man far out of his depth. Also effective is Alan Blumenfeld as the dry-witted Casca, a curmudgeon with a lethal axe to grind. But as Caesar, Palmer lacks the finesse that would make his glad-handing tough-guy politico fully-fleshed. And D.J. Harner, who doubles in the role of Calpurnia with Abby Craden, never lifts her portrayal above the pedestrian.
While far from definitive, this “Caesar” offers tangible pleasures, not least of which is the lovely hillside setting of the Theatricum, ideal for the rousing, large-scale battle scenes that end the play with a sword-clashing bang.
-- F. Kathleen Foley
“Julius Caesar,” Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga; $10-$30; playing through Sept. 26 (for complete schedule to go www.theatricum.com or call [310] 455-3723); 2 hours, 30 minutes.