In the two tragedies we’ve covered thus far, the downfalls come from outside forces: Titus has to deal with the machinations of Tamora and Aaron; Romeo and Juliet are victims of circumstance (at least to the point where the choices they have are limited to bad ones). In Julius Caesar, though, most of the wounds feel self-inflicted.
Continue reading “Julius Caesar: Miscalculation + Mistakes = Tragedy”
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This week’s podcast continues our two month-long discussion of Julius Caesar, with reviews of some of the video productions available, plus a live theater (though non-Cesarean) review as well.
Continue reading “Podcast 89: Julius Caesar: Video Reviews (plus one)”
Yesterday, we discussed the very limited uses of bawdy in Julius Caesar. It was a short entry. I don’t expect today’s to be much longer, as we’re discussing comedy in the play.
Continue reading “The Comedy of Julius Caesar (wait, what — oh, you get the picture)”
Eric Partridge, in his (pretty much indispensable) work on the racy bits of the Bard, Shakespeare’s Bawdy, says of our current play under discussion, Julius Caesar:
No lie, Mr. Partridge.
Continue reading “The Bawdy of Julius Caesar (wait, what bawdy?)”
In Act Two, Scene One, of Julius Caesar, we see the only interaction between the husband and wife duo of Brutus and Portia.
Shakespeare is notorious for pliable history, that which he can bend, stretch, mold and work into any shape which pleases him and helps him make a dramatic (and–if you’re inclined–political) point. Remember Hotspur-as-contemporary-of-Hal (when he was actually older than Henry IV)? Or the ridiculous Tudor-centric retelling of the War of the Roses stuff in the Henry VI plays? Well, there’s nothing that bad in Julius Caesar, but there is some fudging of facts…
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This week’s Shakespeare news review includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream that was a tad too racy, “Shakespeare Corrected,” a 14 year-old Jennifer Lawrence tackling Shakespeare, and announcements for next year’s seasons at Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Shakespeare Dallas, and Shakespeare’s Globe. PLUS our usual recap of this week’s daily highlights in Shakespearean history.
Julius Caesar
We covered him pretty extensively in the last post, but that being said:
Last Thursday, my wife Lisa and I hit the road to the University of California at Santa Barbara to catch the touring Shakespeare’s Globe production of King Lear, as its tour of the US is winding down. To call the production lean-and-mean would be insulting and would give the false impression that it seems to lack something.
This stripped-down production wants for very, VERY little.
Continue reading “Review: Shakespeare’s Globe King Lear US Tour (at UCSB)”
