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Play asks deep questions of all of us – poses one of theatre’s most thoughtful and interesting young talents – who was named by leading industry title, The Stage, last year as one of 25 theatre makers to look out for in the future…
IN THESE challenging and unsettling times globally – it seems apt that the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) should be putting on, ‘Julius Caesar’ – a play about politics and power.
and Brutus (Thalissa Teixeira)
In this production, the show has two female leads with Cassius (Kelly Gough) and Brutus (Thallisa Teixeira) playing ‘the Conspirators’, who will move against Julius Caesar (Nigel Barrett).
Banerjee has also a diverse cast – while not setting out to be deliberately so from the outset, he has actors with disabilities and different ethnic heritages.
The play also possesses what comes across as a unique feature – a revolving community Chorus – which will change in each location as the play moves around the country and will have its own narrative about the action we all see.
Despite these facets – which might upset those who don’t like innovation or contemporary considerations coming into Shakespeare – Banerjee said this version is faithful to the text and he described its overall tone to www.asianculturevulure.com as “classical”.
While these add to the richness of such a production, acv believes, this at heart, remains a play about political change and how and when to take up (arms?) against those who wield what appears as an ugly power.
ACV has not seen the play yet.
Banerjee went to very heart of the dilemma, as framed by Shakespeare he believes, when he told us: “If someone said to you, ‘You can make the world a better place, but to do so, you would have to kill your best friend, would you do it?’
“That is the dilemma these characters are facing. It feels like one of the big questions (in the play), when faced with what feels like an impossible political situation, what would you do? I am interested in audiences having to ask that question.”
The central points are the same in what might be constituted a classical reading and for Banerjee, superstitions, omens and prophecies weigh heavily on the action.
“I’ve chosen to focus a bit more on the supranatural, the tragic elements of the play, rather than the purely political.
“It’s not so much a history play, it is a Tragedy and very much in the classical sense, the superstition, the omens, prophecies – the Beware The Ides of March speech.”
Brutus and Cassius have noble intentions – they see Caesar as a despot in the making and feel compelled to take action to save the Republic.
In Banerjee’s version, there are no obvious villains or clear heroes – and having not seen the play yet, it feels like all the characters are noble – at least in thought.
“I am hoping to unlock a version that doesn’t cast anyone as a hero or a villain. I am interested in audiences being alive to the ambiguities within those readings.”
He believes there are nuances in his production which move away from the obvious.
“In our reading, Caesar is shown to be tender with his wife and Brutus – it’s about holding him (Caesar) in his complexity.
“My aim is to bring something different to the RSC.”
The casting of Brutus and Cassius as women is not a simple statement against Patriarchy, he asserted.
“I’ve been thinking more broadly – Brutus is played by a mixed race woman (Texiera) who is fantastic and we are thinking about the intersections of race and gender. I’ve got a couple of disabled actors and one non-binary. We’ve cast across a spectrum and I believe it automatically raises questions about power dynamics.”
He told acv that the original play has 48 speaking parts – and only two are indicated in the text as women.
“We are very much presenting a version of the play where I’ve encouraged all 19 actors across the spectrum of their identities to draw on their own experiences in order to create their characters, so if they have Brazilian or Mexican heritage to draw on that.”
It feels like Banerjee is keen to show that experience is a powerful factor in shaping someone’s political philosophy and that labels and stated positions are not as consistent as they might seem.
“It becomes easy in the social media arena to flatten or reduce things,” he pointed out when considerations about identity politics come into play.
It’s clear that he wants this ‘Julius Caesar’ to go beyond just being an enjoyable night or afternoon in the theatre. He wants to make you think – hard, perhaps.
“Every piece of theatre I make is political in some shape or form; and I am always interested in how the characters are determined by their upbringing, class, (access to) capital, and by their social positioning.
“I think the encounter between the audience and the story is a fundamentally political act.”)
He went onto admit that this tension between making theatre work and positively affecting change has troubled him, not so much recently but after a couple of years of working as a theatre director.
“I’ve considered in my life, whether I should quit the theatre and do something like being a lawyer or a politician, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I wouldn’t be any good at any of those particular things and now with the tour, and the community involvement, the play is going to be experienced by whole range of people from all walks of life and it’s not just about the RSC, but this is a work for young people, people with disabilities, and it’s an act of community building.”
In each of the ten productions (including in Stratford-Upon-Avon now), there is a Chorus, made up of six people and this group will provide a “commentary on the politics of the play from the perspective of identities that have been marginalised, either at different points in history or in our world today. Those participating will include teachers, support workers, campaigners and faith leaders. Among these groups are Trans, non-binary and gender non-confirming people”, explains the RSC.
We can’t wait to see ‘Julius Caesar’.
Main picture: Brutus (Teixeira) and Banerjee in rehearsals
All pictures: ©RSC/Marc Brenner
Listings
‘Julius Caesar’, (March 18) until Saturday, April 8, 1.15pm (matinees: Thursday
& Saturday) otherwise 7.15pm.
Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre, Waterside, Stratford-upon-Avon
Warwickshire CV37 6BB
2 hours and 45 minutes (20 including a 20-minute interval)
More info/booking: https://www.rsc.org.uk/julius-caesar
Nation tour
The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury – April 20
Hall for Cornwall, Truro – April 25-29
Alhambra, Bradford – May 2-6
Theatre Royal, Newcastle – May 9- 13
Grand Theatre, Blackpool – May 16-20
Theatre Royal, Nottingham – May 23-27
Theatre Royal, Norwich – June 6-10
York Theatre Royal – June 13-17
The Lowry, Salford – June 20-24
See all here for booking
https://www.rsc.org.uk/julius-caesar/tour-dates-venues
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