Julius Caesar
William Shakespeare
Tangle Theatre
Directed/Adapted by Anna Coombs
Omnibus Theatre, Chatham
Star rating 3
This visceral, succinct, African-inspired, five hander version of Julius Caesar plays on a richly dramatic set (designed by Colin Falconer). A pattern of huge concentric circles lit to change colour (lighting by Joe Hornsby) gleams from the back wall while a dark red circular dais sits in the centre of a stage which is framed by glittering glass walls.
It certainly sets the scene for a sinister story, dominated in this version by the soothsayer played by LAMDA-trained Ghanaian poet Yaw Osafo-Kantanka. Dressed like a tribal warrior with masses of paint on his skin he leaps, shouts, sings and talks through the traditional drum tucked under his left arm. He also plays the citizens – and yes, his muscular stage presence is quite sufficient to make us believe that he is more than one person. And the fact that he mostly uses an African language rather than Shakespeare’s English actually adds to the mystery and mystique.
The text is cut to bring the play down to well under two hours – there’s an interval and a deal of wordless stage business – which makes the story telling pretty clear. The inevitable multi-roling does not always come off, however, although Samya De Meo is terrific in all the small wifely roles and a brave, brawny, ultimately rueful female Cassius.
Remiel Farai’s Brutus convinces. He really is a man of conscience who agrees, reluctantly, to assassinate his power hunger boss/friend (Caesar, played by Roland Royal III) for the greater good of the republic. We see the thoughtfulness and, later, the self awareness in this character. The problem, though, of doing the play in this small-scale way is that we lose sight of the nature of the conspiracy: it is a group effort and that’s the point. Brutus and Cassius are not in this alone.
Although we were warned at the beginning of the performance I saw that, owing to unforeseen circumstances, Samater Ahmed would be playing Mark Antony, script in hand, he is very good indeed. He gets one of the most famous speeches in Shakespeare (“Friends, Romans, Countrymen…”) which he addresses to the audience and makes it sound completely fresh and spontaneous. Then comes the carefully orchestrated rhetoric builds as he swings the crowd his way. Later when he is leading his army against Brutus towards the Battle of Philippi we see his inner ruthlessness, despite Ahmed’s distracting physical resemblance to the young Dalai Lama.
It’s an interesting, valid response to the play from a company which specialises in radical reinventions of classical theatre texts centred on African and Caribbean communities. Supported by Mayflower Studios in Southampton and resident at Prime Theatre, Swindon, Tangle Theatre is touring this production.
