Ricky Sayeed reviews the West End run of the RSC's African-set Julius Caesar at Noel Coward Theatre
Productions of Julius Caesar generally accept that Brutus was, in the sarcastic words of his rival Mark Anthony, “an honourable man”. And he was so, despite or because he murdered the play’s eponymous Roman emperor-who-never-was. This assassin is portrayed as a stoical gentleman calmly impressing his principles on a corrupted world. Caesar’s tyrannical ambitions threaten the Roman Republic, but Brutus takes some persuading before he agrees to help kill him. Even then, the goodness of this noble murderer is such that he unwittingly allows the tyrant to be made a martyr. And if it isn’t his honour that loses him and his co-conspirators the ensuing civil war, then it’s still remarkable that he maintains such qualities, even on the battle field.
In Greg Doran’s “African” production, Paterson Joseph’s Brutus keeps this schtick going, but does so by repressing his “dishonourable” sadness with a strange, wobbly grin. Onstage, these complex emotions take time to set up, and while the conspiracy is being concocted it seems that the highlights of a mediocre evening will be Cyril Nri’s wily, vicious Cassius and Jeffery Kissoon’s Caesar, who is transformed into the enjoyably pompous ruler of a sub-Saharan dictatorship. It doesn’t help that Doran’s staging is strange. There’s a great hill of concrete blocks rising up to the back, but the action all takes place on the boring, flat bit at the front.
Suddenly, Caesar’s body is lying on the floor, soaked in blood and surrounded by a jostling chain of terrified killers. It’s not the corpse that’s disturbing, it’s the murderers’ confusion and Brutus’ struggle to suppress his bubbling fears. Irritatingly, this climactic scene is played with the characters in togas, as if we wouldn’t take it seriously without silly, anachronistic costumes. But that can’t distract from Joseph’s awesome performance, and a powerful, eloquent funeral oration from Ray Fearon as Mark Anthony whips up the rest of the night into a wave of emotion. As the assassins’ plans fail and Brutus’ own death draws near, the facade of his calm collapses and the emotions explode. Especially moving is the scene in which he hears of the death of his wife, played by the always-compelling Adjoa Andoh.
Hundreds of years of Julius Caesars have peddled the same dreary line of murderous yet civilised Romans, and Doran’s “African” staging doesn’t so much disregard this kind of story as make it seem irrelevant. Of course these people weren’t innately moral, they were just good at hiding their emotions! Suddenly a play that can seem cold, full of history and clever speeches but light on passion, seems vital and troubling. And yet, when we get to the other end, Brutus is still ‘an honourable man’. But this time he’s also believable.
Julius Caesar runs at Noel Coward Theatre until September 15th
Image: Kwame Lestrade
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