"Julius Caesar," which opens today at the Hopkins Center, tells the famous tale of the Roman political icon who rose to power, only to be brought down by those who feared that his political career signified the end of the Roman republic. According to director Jamie Horton, these themes echo the current tumultuous political climate in the United States, which ultimately helped Horton select the play.
"I wanted to do a political play for this highly political year," Horton said.
Cullen Murphy's book "Are We Rome?" sparked Horton's interest in the theme of power -- who holds it and how far will they go to get it?
"Elections remain a check on power, a crude and clumsy but, as yet, sacred way to reorient the compass," Cullen tells his readers.
In a marked testament to the emerging changes in the political climate and the women now heavily involved in the "sacred" election process, many of the principle male roles are played by women in Dartmouth's production, and pronouns referring to them have been changed accordingly. As professor Horton indicated, women share growing amounts of power in today's world -- creating legislation, governing nations and even aspiring to the presidency of the United States. Horton wanted to highlight this shift in Dartmouth's interpretation of the play.
Horton asked the actors to look at the play in the context of current events as they readied for their performance. He even assisted them in doing so by bringing in a U.S. soldier who had served in Iraq to help the Roman soldiers understand the mindset of those willing and bound to serve their country in any way possible.
Textual analysis is a key component of the production, as Shakespeare's text switches between prose and verse. The upper echelons of society use verse in the play to convey their formality, while the lower class characters speak in prose. For Holland, who plays both a Roman citizen and a soldier, both forms must be mastered in order to bring life to the characters.
The set design, though sparse, conveys the magnitude of the events of the play. The set consists of only a Powerpoint projected onto a large marble-looking backdrop and a few extra stage props. A Roman bust and splattered blood are among the images cast against the backdrop. The design purposefully places the focus on the transcendent power of Shakespeare's language. Mixing technology with the traditional language sets the scene in Roman times while allowing the audience to relate the events to the present day.
The mix of old and new is also present in the costume design. Although the costumes are reminiscent of Roman togas, the players sport black jeans underneath. The simple costumes emphasize the actions, rather than appearance, of the actors.
The staggering amount of work that has gone into the production represents a colossal effort from a number of parties. Horton and his production team have spent months preparing. Auditions were held at the very beginning of the term, and rehearsals have continued since then.
"This is what people want to do for the rest of their lives," said cast member Chris Holland '11, on the dedication of the students involved with the production.
The thought and energy that have gone into the preparation of the production assure that it ought not to be missed. If Monday night's dress rehearsal is any indication of what will happen when the curtain opens, audiences will certainly be impressed.
The play opens at Moore Theatre tonight at 8 p.m. and runs through next week.