Categories: uncategorized
Date: 16 July 2005 13:41:52
[Harry Potter update: I'm up to Chapter 13, page 242]
On Friday night I went to see Shakespeare's Julius Caesar as performed by the Sydney Theatre Company. It was my first time seeing a play by the Sydney Theatre Company, and my first time seeing a play at The Wharf venue. For those who know Sydney well, it is on Hickson Road, Walsh Bay. For those that don't know Sydney well, it's not very far from the Harbour Bridge.
I'll definitely be returning to see more Sydney Theatre Company productions if this was anything to go by. The theatre was smaller than I expected, which was a very pleasant surprise -- a quite intimate affair. Much use was made of simple visuals, and a few very good humoured ones, and they were extremely effective. The acting was superb, though it appeared Cassius was coming down with a cold -- but he battled on bravely, with a few coughs in between.
The costumes chosen were interesting. Caesar wore a toga, the conspirators were dressed in suits or semi-formal attire, and the crowds were in tracksuits and trainers.
I didn't read Julius Caesar in school and it isn't one of Shakespeare's plays that I've read since, so I had no idea what to expect, except for "Et tu, Brute?", "Beware the Ides of March.", and Mark Antony's "Friends, Romans, and countrymen..." [It was interesting to discover "It's all Greek to me" came from this play as well -- it is amazing just how many words and phrases Shakespeare coined.] The cast took me on a wonderful adventure through the life and death of Caesar, and the life and death of his conspirators. A great night out.