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Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar (Ensemble Shakespeare Company)

July 19, 2026

In its second producing year, Ensemble Shakespeare Company is offering a fine staging of "Julius Caesar" with some debatable casting choices. As directed by Dylan Diehl, the use of theater in the round focuses the attention center stage for all except Marc Antony’s funeral oration where he climbs up various staircases to give all a vantage to hearing him give his speech. The modern dress production adds a contemporary gloss to an ancient story which still has political relevance. Except for some minor quibbles this is a fine production for both those new to "Julius Caesar" and those very familiar with it. [more]

Bedlam’s The Assassination of Julius Caesar as Told by William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw

March 17, 2024

The play is treated like a rehearsal (a conceit also used by Bedlam in their incomprehensible and lame "Henry IV" workshop in Brooklyn in 2023) with the director (Andrew Rothenberg who also plays Shaw’s Caesar) stopping the action periodically and breaking the mood. The costumes (production designed by director/adapter Eric Tucker, wardrobe supervisor Damarius Kennedy) are contemporary; whether this is supposed to be rehearsal clothes or a modern dress version is never made clear. (It is obviously cheaper than having to create period correct Egyptian and Roman costumes.) In terms of continuity, there are two Caesars: Rajesh Bose as Shakespeare’s Caesar and Rothenberg as Shaw’s which destroys any transition from one play to another. In fact, the segues from one text to the other are non-existent with one scene following another from the other play without any transition. [more]