Think of a famous playwright, and you'll probably think of Shakespeare. As one of the most well-known playwrights, it makes sense that his work would be performed even today, approximately 500 years after his birth. Shakespeare's plays are performed around the world at all levels, including by the aptly named "Royal Shakespeare Company" in Stratford Upon Avon (Shakespeare's birthplace).
This past season, the RSC performed a series of "Roman Plays" including Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, Dido Queen of Carthage (written by Christopher Marlowe), and Antony and Cleopatra.
While in England, I had the good fortune to both read the original texts and see the stage versions of three on these plays: Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, and Dido Queen of Carthage. Here's a brief review of each of them.
Julius Caesar: 6.5/10
While this performance of Caesar was very close to the original text, had plenty of symbolism, and good acting, it definitely was missing some sort of "wow" factor. It was exactly what you would expect from Julius Caesar, with the exception of decisions made by Martin Hutson (Cassius), who made the character feel almost mentally unstable. Apart from that, Alex Waldmann's Brutus was one of the strongest performances in the company that night; he allowed the audience to see a softer side of Brutus in his interactions with Lucius (his servant). The additional artistic decision to have Lucius' neck snapped towards the end of the play was definitely a "thrilling" moment, and there was an audible gasp from the audience. Overall, it was a good, enjoyable performance, but nothing spectacular.
Coriolanus: 3/10
With this show, the RSC made an obvious attempt to do something different, with great emphasis on the word "attempt". The audience filed into the theater to see bags of grain on the stage, consistent with the beginning of the text. Someone came out with a forklift to remove the grain and an iron gate slammed shut in front of it, causing the start of the show. While the beginning was somewhat exciting, the rest of the show fell very flat. Sope Dirisu's performance as Coriolanus seemed empty and uninspired. There was no sense whatsoever to the costumes (some of which seemed to be modern, some of which seemed to be Roman) as well as the fight scenes. While in the beginning of the show, the decision was to have the plebeians attack the gates with chain, baseball bats, and other modern weapons, in the fight scenes between Aufidius' men and Coriolanus' men, they used swords (which made no sense in the continuity of the performance). All in all, you would have a better and more enjoyable time watching Coriolanus with Ralph Fiennes (2011) set in the war-torn Middle East.
Dido, Queen of Carthage: 9/10
This was absolutely the most enjoyable of the three RSC Roman plays that I had the privilege to see. Chipo Chung's performance as Dido was believable and truthful, and Ellie Beaven's performance as Venus truly showed the audience the gods' ability to manipulate the lives of mortals. Throughout the performance the actors made excellent use of the sand floor and waterfall backdrop, and the costuming department separated the gods from the mortals by having the gods dress in modern clothing while the mortals dressed as Romans. The director seemed to run with the image of gods being modern, as they had Hermes appear to Aeneas in a dream using a video camera and a projector, giving that entire scene a sense of surrealism. Finally, the great challenge with Dido is how the deaths of Dido, Iarbas, and Anna can be done on stage, as they commit suicide by being burned alive. However, this was also masterfully handled, with Chung having a long, drawn out death where she agonizingly rolled around in the sand after covering herself in "oil" to give her a sooty appearance. Finally, she froze in a pained position, reminiscent of the bodies iconic from Mount Vesuvius' eruption at Pompeii. Daniel York's Iarbas stabs himself with the sword that Dido and Aeneas swore their love over, and Amber James' Anna did a wonderful interpretation of suffocating after drinking kerosene. Dido was the only one of the three Roman plays that I saw that made unexpected interpreted decisions that worked successfully with the show.
I highly recommend the theater as a way of relaxation during your travels. Not only will it be entertaining (no matter the type of performance), but it truly is a window into another culture.
