When I made my way to the theatre to see William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’ at the Sydney Theatre Company, I well knew that it would not be a comfortable presentation of the Bard’s classic. The fact that it was being directed by Benedict Andrews informed me of this. Andrews directs his theatre tough and confronting. Previous Sydney Theatre Company productions, such as ‘Mr Kolpert’, ‘Attempts on her Life’, and ‘Fireface’, exemplified this.

Andrews did not disappoint, this was another intense, fierce production. Andrews stayed true to the spirit of Shakespeare’s text whilst adding elements to it. Through the action he included a girl child who shadowed the action and sometimes took part in it. It was like the next generation was commenting on the viciousness of what they were witnessing.

Through the action after interval we had the ghost of Caesar casting a shadow of the conspirators. Andrews’s production conveyed the conspiratorial tone well. One scene where the conspirators all sat at a long table with a huge array of candles knowing their actions were doomed, was brilliantly portrayed.

The way that Andrews used canned applause and spectators comments through the theatre’s speaker system during the famous Brutus and Mark Antony speeches worked well.

His designer Robert Cousens’s set, with the action played out in what looked like a Roman open air theatre, focused the action.

Max Lyandvert dramatic score, and Damien Cooper’s lighting design, especially during the storm scenes, added to the tension.
His ensemble cast of ten actors and one child gave committed performances. My pick of the cast were Robert Menzies as Brutus, and Frank Whitten as Cassius.