I hadn’t realized that it has been a full decade since I last saw Julius Caesar. It feels like not that long ago, honestly, perhaps because it was the start of our family attending the Utah Shakespeare Festival together. (We didn’t go every year, but we have attended quite a few since then.)
In retrospect, however, maybe I should have realized it has been a long time, since that year, my youngest was only age 5 and took advantage of the daycare for a couple of the plays. Including Julius Caesar.
The problem (if it can be called that) with the USF version of Julius Caesar is that it was such a perfect production in every imaginable way that every subsequent version I see will inevitably be compared to that. Which isn’t really fair, of course.
In particular, Paul Michael Sandberg was the most imposing, charismatic, and freaking dangerous Caesar I have ever seen - or perhaps could imagine. You could tell why the conspirators wanted him dead. And why the people lost their minds over him.
Note: one of the more disappointing things about the Trump Era is that Americans apparently don’t need a first-rate demagogue. We settled for laughably stupid, incompetent, and embarrassing. He’s like Wilford Wiggins, grown up and fresh from his job at a 5th rate used car dealership, and still selling cut-rate scams. Couldn’t we have held out for someone of substance?
I mention this in part because the set design in this production specifically referenced “Make Rome Great Again.” Caesar at least was a military hero, and by all accounts, competent in a number of areas. We get a reality show clown instead. Sigh.
Anyway, about The Empty Space’s production, which, even without Paul Michael Sandberg, was excellent.
As I noted, my youngest missed our last Caesar, so she accompanied me this time.
The first thing I want to note about this particular production is that it was directed by local professor Mendy McMasters, who has a history of well-coached plays, both student productions and community versions. For this Julius Caesar, I was impressed by how well all of the actors projected, and how fluid their diction was. And this includes some young actors just getting started. Everything was clear and audible and sounded not only carefully prepared but natural.
Second, in keeping with the “low budget” aesthetic that The Empty Space has leaned into for its two decades in our community, the set was sparse, even brutalist. All greys and concrete and fairly stark lighting.
The costumes were what I would call more of an artistic expression than any particular setting in time. At the beginning, the royalists wore what I guess is kind of a nod to Roman aesthetics, but also more modern? By the end of the play, it was all-black with red berets - Che Guevara chic. Likewise, the conspirators were beige-ish at the beginning, but too ended in black. The world, in fact, turns black, if you will.
Yellows and oranges dominated the colors of the plebeians. Also interesting was the liberal use of tattoos - I asked about it, and there wasn’t any particular meaning, just part of the look.
This production included a bit of framing, with the cast opening the play with the question of “how do we tell the story of Caesar and Brutus?” as well as the greater questions of violence and war and morality. It was an echo of other Shakespeare plays - A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry V to name a couple - where the Chorus, so to speak, whether as a single narrator or a character or a group, directly addresses the audience. I thought it was quite effective, and fit the rest of the vision for the play.
This play in particular turns on the performances of its main characters. In this case, Perrin Swanson (no relation, but we’d take him in a heartbeat) played Brutus, the “hero” of this play, to the extent one exists - a tragic hero to be sure. I’m not sure I have seen Perrin in an actual Shakespeare play before - but he sure has done everything else. And that includes directing, acting, set design, lights, sound. If you can imagine it, he probably has done it.
Unsurprisingly, he gave a good turn in the lead role in this one, properly conflicted, with more than a bit of that stuffy self-righteousness that is Brutus’ calling card. In particular, his speech at Caesar’s funeral falls flat, as he tries to take the moral high ground unsuccessfully. Brutus just doesn’t see clearly, as he makes mistake after mistake, after mistake. Perrin made the lack of self-awareness feel genuine and pitiable.
Opposite him, as the hot-headed and pissy Cassius, was Connor Deming. Deming has been in a number of plays over the past few years, starting with Bakersfield College productions. This is a serious lead role, and it was nice to see just how much he has grown as an actor. This was a superb job, with a lot of stage presence, beautiful and natural diction, and that lean and hungry look.
To round out the central trio was Avery Gibson as Antony. I have loved watching her since I first saw her in Antigone, and I really think she is one of our best local actors in any role. Her speech at Caesar’s funeral was fantastic, highly persuasive, emotional, and manipulative as hell. A dangerous character played with a great edge. How much is Antony motivated by his real grief, and how much by his determination to “let slip the dogs of war”? Gibson walked the line on that, a delightfully nuanced performance, but one full of fury and danger.
Steve Evans, who also has been in everything over the years, brought gravitas as Caesar.
As I mentioned, from top to bottom, the cast was well prepared and did a good job. I’ll give special mention to Andi Kruszka as the Soothsayer, Auria Shamblin as Portia, Kamala Boeck (also a playwright!) as Calphurnia, and Tyler Espinoza as Decius as memorable in smaller roles. But I can’t think of a bad performance here.
Overall, it was an excellent production of a classic play, and well worth the modest price of a ticket. Unfortunately, this show has already completed its run, but there are others on tap for the rest of the season.
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