| Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare | Directed by Lucy Smith Conroy | Produced by Portland Stage Company | though October 19 | 207.774.0465 |
Indeed, it’s a credit to the nuance and subtlety of this cast, and to Conroy’s masterful direction, that PSC’s Caesar feels like a portrait less of Brutus (often considered the play’s protagonist) than of an entire republic — from its shoemakers to its generals — in the process of self-annihilation. This production moves us to become as invested in the fate of that republic as we would in a character — a complex character, noble, flawed, infuriating, heartrending; a character whose insecurities and emotional weaknesses often hit disturbingly close to home.
The character of our own real-life republic certainly has plenty of uncertainties to deal with at the moment, even without a financial meltdown in the works. In fact, another of Tocqueville’s timeless observations about us was that an American election year constitutes “a crisis in the affairs of the nation,” that it riles up “all the artificial passions which the imagination can create.” PSC’s sophisticated and devastating interpretation of Julius Caesar reminds us of just how crucial it is that we keep our heads.
Megan Grumbling can be reached at mgrumbling@hotmail.com.
Related:
Unkindest cuts, Et tu Brute?, Crossword: ''You're out!'', More 
- Unkindest cuts
Those who went to high school in the 1960s may feel a wave of déjà vu at the American Repertory Theatre’s Julius Caesar .
- Et tu Brute?
"The whole theatrical event is sort of . . . a much more mysterious one."
- Crossword: ''You're out!''
Dropped from the world of sports and games in 2008.
- Crossword: ''Why the face?''
And why does it never change?
- New and old
First, a tribute to a few of the year's newer theater ventures.
- Fighting Rome
It takes chutzpah for a first-time playwright to get into the ring with Bertolt Brecht.
- Bewitched
Critic Harold Bloom compares Cleopatra, more in her infinite vitality than in her “infinite variety,” to that Shakespearean life force Sir John Falstaff.
- Morality plays
The next six weeks of American life will be marked by a theatrical onslaught of ambition, contention, and colorful character development.
- More Bard, please
The sultry season is soon upon us, and as always, it will bring area theater-goers such dependable balms as Shakespeare (both in and out of the park), classic musicals, and giddy misbehavior of various sorts. Between that manna and a few original productions, written and performed by local artists, we've got a rich season line-up.
- Reading roundup
This fall’s regional literary scene will see abstinence and desire, ghosts and dykes, convicts and Christians, toxic water bottles and yummy food.
- Primary colors
Now that the holiday hubbub is behind us, we have no dreams of white Christmases or visions of Sugar Plum Fairies to warm a theatergoer’s heart.
- Less
Topics:
Theater
, William Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth II, Julius Caesar, More
, William Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth II, Julius Caesar, Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Kevin Kelly, Rebecca Watson, Sally Wood, Anita Stewart, Lucy Smith Conroy, Less
