This may not seem like one of the Bard's great tragedies on paper, but in the hands of a...more

This may not seem like one of the Bard's great tragedies on paper, but in the hands of a sufficiently talented director, there are so many nuances of this play that may not have been exploited. In act I, scene ii, line 219, when Caesar says, "for always I am Caesar" this can be acted in a pompous way, making Caesar more of a marble figure than an actual character. But, in light of Caesar's next line about his deafness, an actor could say it with a little fatigue so that it seems that Caesar is being weary of always having to "play the part" of Caesar as some historians have suggested. Also, after act III, even though there are some serious gaps in the story, historically speaking, a director could find a very creative way of filling in those gaps. All in all, this is a great play by Shakespeare that is underrated by many.   hide

Had to read it for school, and although Shakespeare generally befuddled me, I remember finding the...more

Had to read it for school, and although Shakespeare generally befuddled me, I remember finding the politics of this one at least slightly interesting.   hide

A great play. Having directed a shortened version of JC, I had a new insight into the "Friends,...more

A great play. Having directed a shortened version of JC, I had a new insight into the "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" speech; I have heard it delivered so many times as a grand Roman oration, yet Mark Antony says that he is not an orator like Brutus. It isn't a big grand speech, it is a speech from a man to other men. He uses this idea of being "just a man" to manipulate public opinion, because Brutus is not really an orator like Antony, he repeats himself constantly. When we staged it, I gave Brutus cue cards to hold, to make his speech look planned and yet uncertain. Antony is in fact better planned, and knows exactly what to do. Yet he appears to be improvising. I think one way in which this comes across well is by having the rest of the cast to create crowd chatter over the begining of the speech, and letting the first few words act as a way of shutting them up. It is not a big grand "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" it is a frustrated call for them to be quiet before he begins to manipulate the crowd.   hide

While it's not my favourite Shakespearian play...it's not terrible either.

it was a great book and i had a fun time reading it except sometimes it could be confusing