'Caesar'

It's only been a few weeks since we went to see 'Hamlet', at which time I posted about my struggles with Shakespeare. Tonight looked like a good opportunity to further acquaint myself with the bard, an especially attractive proposition as this performance was only going to be half an hour long :-)

I took Dan and Abi along as Dan is 'doing' the Romans at school and I didn't want to leave Abi out. The performance - by children at Dan's school - was great: fast paced, exciting and absorbing. Apart from one character, who spoke a bit too fast, I found that I was able to follow the dialogue, which was a pleasant surprise, and the whistlestop tour through Caesar's murder and the subsequent fallout was thoroughly enjoyable.

My favourite aspect of the performance was the use of the chorus, who provided a whispering backdrop to many of the scenes, so that the dialogue was at times accompanied by a murmuring and sinister soundtrack. And my favourite costume was that off the Soothsayer: clad in a dress and DMs, like Shakespearian Riot Grrrl, she had a bandage across her eyes, which reminded me of Zenith's 'Maxi-Man'. I'm not sure what it is that I find so powerful about that look - as opposed to, say, dark glasses - but the costume as a whole was very effective. It would have made for a great photo (butI didn't want to take a shot during the performance).