1、New theatre: “Julius Caesar”Sisters of the Senate Dec 5th 2012, 19:48 by M.S. TweetPHYLLIDA LLOYD, a theatre and film director, is nothing if not eclectic. “Mamma Mia!”, a jolly film about mature but still tuneful hippies, and “The Iron Lady”, a poignant look at Margaret Thatcher in decline, have li
2、ttle in common besides Meryl Streep as the leading lady and Ms Lloyd in the directors seat. Ms Lloyd is better known for her many operas and plays. Her latest productionan all-female version of “Julius Caesar” at the Donmar Warehouse in Londonopens up new country.Gender-bending is in vogue on the Lo
3、ndon stage these days. Ms Lloyds previous women-only Shakespeare play was “The Taming of the Shrew” at the Globe theatre in 2003; Mark Rylance is currently playing Olivia in “Twelfth Night” at the Apollo theatre, and an all-male version of “A Clockwork Orange” is on at the Soho theatre. But this ada
4、ptation faces a different challenge. “Julius Caesar” is one of Shakespeares most violent plays, yet the dramaset in a bleak, modern-day prison, where inmates are rehearsing the playis delivered entirely through female voice and movement. For the most part, it works. Physical energy abounds. Caesar i
5、s plausibly stabbed. The action-laden crowd scenes are effectively choreographed and genuinely menacing.This success is down to three actors in particular. Frances Barbers portrayal of Caesar, in leather coat and beret, as a modern-day sociopath is two parts Idi Amin to one part Ralph Fienness Coria
6、lanus. Programme notes by Robert Harris, a historical novelist, make clear that this Caesar is not a heroic warrior-patriot brought down by ignoble curs but a war criminal who has wiped out hundreds of thousands of people and threatens to grind Rome under his sandal. Ms Barber spits menace and sadis
7、m, forcing a doughnut down a senators throat, refusing mercy to a prominent Roman exile. Her gravelly “Et tu, Brute?” at the last failed to move, but then it probably was not meant to.Lady Harriet Walter as Brutus is stark and angular, with short hair gelled back and severe cheekbones. She starts sl
8、owly, but she steadily gains in stature, pushing her anguished way through the consequences of her principled decision to bring down the Caesar she loved for the good of Rome. By the end, Brutus is the unrivalled heart of the action, sobbing at the corner of the stage as the Rome he knew is destroye
9、d. He is the most convincingly realised of Shakespeares characters.Jenny Jules playing Cassius, a conspirator against Caesar, gives the third believable performance. She is not precisely lean and hungry, but her passion and vehemence are persuasive, and she displays an amazing six-pack. Less convinc
10、ing is Cush Jumbo as Mark Antony, who tips into girlishness when she weeps next to Caesars corpse and never quite commands the stage. Curiously, Clare Dunne, who plays both a gun-toting, IRA-style Octavius and Brutuss wife, Portia, expatiating on the diminished role of women, was better as the man.M
11、s Lloyd has said that she chose an all-female cast in part because Shakespeare wrote too few good roles for women (and they were played by men in his day anyway). But stripped to their essenceambition, greed, lovemost of Shakespeares characters are surprisingly gender-neutral. More problematic was t
12、he setting and some of the raucous, giddy-making special effects.Modern adaptations often displace Shakespeares plays and there is sense in setting “Julius Caesar” in a prison. Ms Lloyd juxtaposes Romes looming loss of freedom under Caesar with the plight of the inmates confined to the stripped-down
13、, grey set. Power relations in prison are important, as they were around Caesar. Mob rule is a menace, and the temper of crowds inside or out of prison can change quickly. Occasionally prison talk that cuts through the Shakespearean verse (such as when Brutus interrupts a high-faluting speech to sho
14、ut “shut the fuck up”, or words to that effect, to prisoners out of sight) was deftly done. Ms Lloyd and Lady Walter have both spent time working at Holloway, a womans prison, and two of the cast members came from Clean Break, a theatre-based charity for women in the criminal-justice system.The pris
15、on meta-drama feels more like a gimmick than an essential element of the play, however. The production has plenty going onbursts of loud music, tanks, curious weapons, dolls, mild nudity, to say nothing of the gender-bendingadditional complications seemed de trop. But this explosion of creative ener
16、gy is an impressive production. And the dog trying to warn Caesar away from the Senate on the Ides of March, writhing and barking and pulling at its lead, is superb. Why not an all-dog “Romeo and Juliet”?“Julius Caesar” is at the Donmar Warehouse in London until February 9th 2013菲利达劳埃德、剧院和电影导演,是没有什么
17、折衷。“妈妈咪呀!“,一个快活的电影成熟但仍然悦耳的嬉皮士,和“铁娘子”,一个辛酸看看玛格丽特 撒切尔在减少,几乎没有共同点除了梅丽尔斯特里普的女主角和Ms劳埃德在导演的座位。劳埃德女士更出名的是她的许多歌剧和戏剧。她的最新版本的生产一个全女性“凯撒 ”在战区仓库在新国家的伦敦打开了。性别偏移是流行在伦敦的舞台上这些天。劳合社女士以前女性专用莎士比亚剧本是驯悍记在环球剧场在2003年,马克里朗斯正在玩奥利维亚在第十二夜在阿波罗剧院,一个男性版的“发条橙”是在Soho剧院。但这种适应面临不同的挑战。凯撒大帝是莎士比亚最暴力的戏剧,然而戏剧集在一个荒凉的,现代监狱,犯人正在排练的游戏是完全通过交付
18、女性声音和运动。在大多数情况下,它的工作原理。物理能源丰富。凯撒是可信的刺伤。这个行动拉登群众场景实际上是精心设计的,真正的威胁。这个成功是下来三个演员在特定的。弗朗西丝理发师所刻画的凯撒,在皮外套,戴着贝雷帽,作为现代的一个反社会的人是两部分阿敏,拉尔夫费因斯的Corialanus一部分。项目由罗伯特哈里斯指出,一个历史小说家,澄清此凯撒不是一个英勇的战士爱国者扳倒了不光彩的杂种狗,但一个战争罪犯,摧毁了成千上万人的生命并且威胁要磨罗马在他的凉鞋。理发师和虐待狂吐女士威胁,迫使一个油炸圈饼了参议员的喉咙,拒绝仁慈著名的罗马放逐。她的声音粗哑的“Et tu,蛮吗?“ 在最后没有移动,然后它可能并不意味着。哈里特 沃尔特女士作为布鲁特斯是斯塔克和角,短头发稠化背部和现代适应经常取代莎士比亚的戏剧和有意义的设置“凯撒” 在监狱里。Ms劳埃德将罗马的迫在眉睫的损失的自由在凯撒的困境和囚犯仅限于精简,灰色集。权力关系在监狱里是很重要的,因为他们在凯撒。暴民统治是一个威胁,脾气的人群从监狱内或变化的很快。偶尔监狱谈论削减通过莎士比亚的诗(如当布鲁特斯中断一个崇高演讲喊“闭嘴” 之类的话, 囚犯看不见)是处理得很巧妙。劳埃德和夫人沃尔特女士都在霍洛韦工作过一段时间,一个女人的监狱,和两个演员来自一刀两断,以戏剧为基础的慈善机构对女性的犯罪-司法体系。监狱元戏剧更像是一个手法比
