Julius Caesar, Southwark Playhouse Borough Review
Written by Eliott for Theatre and Tonic.
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review. All opinions are our own.
In recent years, bringing Shakespeare’s world into the digital age has given us some incredible portrayals of the Bard’s most formidable players; Andrew Scott’s Hamlet screams 21st Century, with flashy news bulletins and live streaming that marries together with the text, whilst the RSC’s Love’s Labour's Lost earlier this year transported us into a wellness retreat that abandoned the use of technology to give over to a more emotional affair.
Icarus Theatre, bringing the Tragedy of Julius Caesar into the modern era with arcade games and FaceTime calls, have stumbled in this case to ground the performance, with a busying measure of creative captioning, and distracting backstage noise, that does very little in moulding the vision together.
Stilted performances from the whole ensemble, a choice that only seems baffling from Max Lewendel’s artistic vision, weighs down a lot of the atmosphere and makes you wonder just what this vision is meant to accomplish, especially when the makeup and costume elements don’t necessarily bring any clarity to the proceedings. Whilst the captioning is an accessible way to follow the myriad of text that has been chopped together to create a condensed version of the tragedy, it’s a missed opportunity when there's no real effort to make the text even remotely effective given the online world we are meant to be experiencing. The stark contrast of the lighting also gives no real dramatic effect and is a shame when given the creepiness of Theo Holloway’s sound design, which should be given credit, along with some of the stunt work, executed with precision and genuine enjoyment by Ronin Traynor.
Asking ourselves why this version of Bard’s work is relevant in today’s society might leave you scratching your head, as the climax says nothing really new of the piece. However, its marketing seems to suggest otherwise, with a sense of impressive production value that doesn’t really bleed into the finished production. With Facetime calls, firearms, and video game elements promised to make this version a little more understandable with a younger generation, it may well indeed work for those new to Shakespeare and his tragedies, but you really aren’t able to fool those who demand to feel something, when the company of performers feel so lost within the words.
At Southwark Playhouse Borough until 5 October 2024.
★ ★.5
