"JULIUS CAESAR" at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier
BY LUCIA MAURO
Issues of political self-justification, in-fighting, large-scale envy and underhanded public-opinion shaping are so immediate in William Shakespeare’s "Julius Caesar" that a contemporary staging is hardly necessary. But director Barbara Gaines achieves more than a sleek modern-dress version of this multilayered tragedy for Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Instead of drawing obvious parallels between our current messy, opportunistic political arena and corrupt senators in ancient Rome, she presents us with a crisp and incisive study of how power plays are woven into the fabric of human behavior – then magnified on a global scale.
In past productions (from "Antony and Cleopatra" to "King Lear"), Gaines has gotten swept into a swirl of text-crushing special effects, and not all of her actors have been on the same rhythmic page. So it was a refreshing change of pace to experience a "Julius Caesar" shaved exquisitely to its essential bone of topical truth and performed by actors scrapping incomprehensible oratorial styles for gracefully shaped natural speech.
Apart from a few gratuitous Hollywood touches -- like a sexier focus on Marc Antony as a party boy opening the play by running off with an entourage of leggy champagne-swilling women, and swarms of flashbulb-popping papparazzi -- Gaines does not succumb to extraneous conceptual clutter. Even in its cinematic blocking, this "Julius Caesar" embodies a scorching theatrical resonance – best reflected in the grand cryptic entrance of the cloaked conspirators through James Noone’s steely, vault-like set.
Rather than pillars, these plotting politicos enact their schemes against an icy angularity in anonymous halls of power, lit in glowering shadows and blinding fluorescents by Kevin Adams. John Boesche’s "cosmic" overhead projections reflect the tempestuous re-ordering of the elements. Costume designer Mariann Verheyen’s tailored business attire keeps us firmly entrenched in the netherworld of brutal power-suit deal making.
More than a hoary historical drama, "Julius Caesar" epitomizes the changing timbres of personal ambition and mob malleability. It also parallels, from a secular perspective, the life and death of another J.C. – Jesus Christ. But Gaines sticks with the more immediate earthly implications (guards costumed in riot gear, for instance, recall the recent economic protest march in Chicago and suggest an increasingly real police state).
In Shakespeare’s work, when the citizens of Rome wish to crown the titular Roman general king after his success in battle, the senators fear a dictatorship will usurp the principles of their Republic. Led by the "lean and hungry" Cassius and with the approval of the respected Brutus (who covertly harbors doubts), they are persuaded to assassinate Caesar – a hasty act that leads to the conspirators’ destruction when Marc Antony subtly transforms his eulogy into a call for vengeance and revolt.
Gaines’ production may not be considered groundbreaking or the sort of interpretation that incites one to impassioned debate. But it offers an impressive series of solid performances and an astute, streamlined point of view.
Scott Parkinson is particularly laser-focused and direct as Cassius, joined by Kevin Gudahl’s heartbreakingly ambivalent Brutus. Gaines’ decision to cast Decia Brutus as a woman is sound in the able hands of an unflinching Linda Kimbrough. Scott Jaeck’s Marc Antony, especially in his unexpected casual delivery of the famed "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" speech, unleashes his character’s deeply buried humanity. And Jack Ryland’s assertive Julius Caesar has successfully chipped away at the marble-like stiffness often associated with his character to reveal a man grappling with an acute moral dilemma.
Other on-the-mark performers include Jay Whittaker and Aaron Todd Douglas in multiple roles, Ellen Karas’ quietly suspicious Calpurnia and Kimberly Hebert-Gregory’s decisive and devoted Portia.
More than anything else, this "Julius Caesar" reminds us to be aware of the signs of social upheaval and the potential for the gradual disintegration of justice and its ensuing freedoms.•
"Julius Caesar" runs through February 23 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand. Tickets: $48-$58. Call 312-595-5600 or log onto www.chicagoshakes.com.
