William Shakespeare, despite presenting some strong, female characters, was hardly what we would call a feminist writer; but as the man was writing in the 16th century, we can't be too angry.
However, what we can say for Shakespeare is that he was incredibly forward thinking for his time. While “period plays” in 16th century dress are a brilliant spectacle, historically fascinating and gold dust in playing homage to the Bard, they must be seen as a tribute to Shakespeare only. These renditions being “done-to-death” would have Shakespeare turning in his grave! Yes, he would appreciate the occasional tribute, the odd hat-tip, but of he had thought that his plays would be so firmly rooted in the time in which they were written that they would become stale and even unappealing to some modern audiences, then it is almost certain that he would have included some sort of footnote at the bottom of “Macbeth”, ensuring that his plays and their messages happily last for “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow”.
It is precisely this that made “Julius Caesar” presented by the Donmar Warehouse, whose run ended on 9th February, such a revolutionary production; because Shakespeare himself was a literary revolutionary. Julius Caesar marked Director Phyllida Lloyd’s return to stage after her multi-award winning film “The Iron Lady”, and was revolutionary not only in its modernisation, but in its cast. Lloyd, a proud feminist, presented an all female cast of actors, whoch starred, among others, the likes of the stunningly commanding Frances Barber as the arrogant, swaggering Caesar and remarkable Dame Harriet Walter as Brutus. Jenny Jules played a hardy and shrewd Cassius while Clare Dunne, who multi-roled as Porcia, the wife of Brutus, and Octavius, her portrayal of whom was a chilling amalgamation of a sleazier Simon Cowell and a George Bush with even colder eyes than seen on the original.
For the drama students of Streatham and Clapham High School, this version of an ancient historical tale could not have been more inspiring. As an all-girls’ school, we are champions of female success and empowerment, and so seeing strong men played by stronger women lent itself to the inner-ancient hero within everyone of us. Set in a women’s prison, where the actors would occasionally step out of their Shakespearean character’s but remain in their role’s as convicts to bellow insults at each other off stage, we were able to see quite clearly how relevant Shakespeare’s themes of status, power, control and rebellion despite all of the differences that come with different centuries. It was also a highly educational experience as we all have had some (or, in my case, a lot) of experience in playing men, it was fascinating to realise that after fifteen minutes of watching the production, we had completely moved past the fact that we were watching an all female cast. When questioned in a question and answer session after the performance, the cast’s response was that the best way to approach any role is to play the character, not their gender. And so not only were we able to benefit from the acting expertise of people who really know what they’re talking about, but we also were in the presence of some of Theatre’s Greats (we are not worthy... we are not worthy...)
The most exciting part of the whole experience was watching Cush Jumbo’s depiction of Mark Anthony. The instinctive reaction to Jumbo’s Anthony was, within five minutes of stage time, that we were going to react strongly to her portrayal, and yet were not initially sure whether those reactions were to be positive or negative. However, in a performance that contained clarity of thought, precision and focus, Jumbo managed to succeed where so many actors before her have fallen down; in portraying Mark Anthony as he was in Julius Caesar- young, passionate, rebellious, as opposed to the hardened man with a greater sense of self-interest that Shakespeare presents in Anthony and Cleopatra. All of SCHS drama students (and teachers) left discussing her luminous rendition of one of Shakespeare’s most famous speeches, “Friends, Romans, Countrymen...” The general consensus among our class is that you know a great actor when they can deliver a speech that significant, knowing that at least 80 per cent of the audience will be saying it along with you, as though you are saying it not only for the first time, but as though it is political speech of great shrewdness, as opposed to a grand, Shakespearean monologue with huge pantomime potential. Cush Jumbo delivered one of the greatest speeches with precisely the right balance between spontaneity and political awareness. She approached it so naturally that many audience members were caught of guard when the recognised the famous lines, and although a few may have felt a sense of anti-climax, this was quickly dispelled by her sheer energy. Indeed an audible shiver had swept the room during the previous scene as Jumbo uttered the famous line “...cry Havoc! And let slip the dog’s of war!”
Despite certain unnecessary touches, such as a tricycle riding soothsayer, it would be difficult to make a strong argument against 99 per cent of the theatrical decisions made in this play. Although only the main speaking roles have been identified in this article, the overall success of the play can certainly be attributed the to strength of the ensemble, who maintained a constant high level of energy throughout, whether it was in maintaining volume during a heavy-metal rock number or maintaining silence as Barber croaked her final lines, “Et tu Brute? Then fall, Caesar.”
This was a stunning bit of theatre, as not only was it technically brilliant, but it also inspired all of us, as a class of young actresses, to allow passion to drive us to success, and to overcome adversity. Not everyone will like this production, but if it is to be taken as Phyllida Lloyd’s feminist statement, and it will be (rightfully so!), then that is a good thing. If Shakespeare’s male characters outweigh his female characters as much as they do, then, as Emmeline Pankhurst said, “you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette.”
And if making omelettes is what it takes to give female actress choice and chance, as well as the opportunity to see amazing productions like Julius Caesar, then thank you very much, I’ll take ten and some for the family.
