By Erin Flynn Jay
Philadelphia Theatre Company is taking on one of Shakespeare’s most politically charged plays and giving it a sharp, modern edge.
‘Caesar,’ a new adaptation of ‘Julius Caesar,’ runs Feb. 6 to 22 at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, transforming the classic tragedy into a 90-minute contemporary thriller.
Adapted by PTC Co-Artistic Director Tyler Dobrowsky and directed by Wilma Theater Co-Artistic Director Morgan Green, ‘Caesar’ is performed by a four-actor ensemble and choreographed by Jungwoong Kim.
Using Shakespeare’s original language alongside modern video and sound design, the production explores the dangerous intersection of power, performance, and political violence.
For Dobrowsky, ‘Caesar’ stands apart from Shakespeare’s other works for its urgency and focus.
“Part of the reason I love it so much is because how fast it moves and how political the ideas and themes are,” said Dobrowsky. “Unlike some other Shakespeare’s plays, there are not three or four different plot points.”
In this sharply focused version, the story of Julius Caesar’s assassination and its aftermath unfolds in a world that bears an uncanny resemblance to our own — social media frenzies, climate disasters, and citizenry caught between fear and fatigue. When the principled senator Brutus joins a conspiracy to murder Caesar in the name of liberty, the assassination sets off a chain reaction that plunges Rome into chaos and civil war, raising urgent questions about what we risk, and whom we trust, in the name of “saving” democracy.
Dobrowsky’s adaptation streamlines Shakespeare’s cast into four multi-role performers, concentrating on the key relationships at the center of the story: Brutus and Cassius, and Caesar and Marc Antony.
The production highlights how politicians craft “optics,” deploy rhetoric, and manipulate public perception, reflecting a media-driven political culture in which every speech is a performance and every action is instantly broadcast, debated, and distorted.
In ‘Caesar,’ there’s one narrative strand — Brutus and Cassius and their attempts to assassinate Caesar, and then what happens after they assassinate Caesar.
Dobrowsky explains how he cut away some of the other more peripheral characters to focus on the two of them, as well as Mark Anthony and Caesar.
“It’s really fun,” he said. “It’s really exciting. It’s like a white-knuckle ride. You are like, ‘Oh my God’. It all happens very quickly, and it feels very visceral.”
Julius Caesar, the historical figure, was assassinated after amassing too much power in a republic that prized shared authority. Rome’s senators—an elite ruling class with immense influence—were determined to keep power concentrated among themselves, and Caesar’s rise threatened that balance.
“Caesar was a war hero, and he was returning home after conquering this civil war,” Dobrowsky explained. “He comes home and he’s going to be crowned king. The senators Brutus and Cassius — they’re basically like, ‘We don’t want to have a king,’ but as much as they are motivated by those politics, they’re also motivated by personal slights and concerns that are very personal in addition to being political.”
Dobrowsky said he thinks the play shows our most savage impulses are wrapped up with high ideals about democracy and dictatorship.
“Caesar’s not wearing a MAGA red hat,” said Dobrowsky. “We’re not doing anything like that, but I think the ideas that they talk about feel very fresh and relevant to what we’re talking about today in America. Part of that is the genius of Shakespeare and the universality of the language.”
“’Caesar’ shows you that a lot of the questions and a lot of the things that we’re talking about right now are also things we’ve been talking about for a long time,” Dobrowsky continued. “I would hope that by broadening our perspective and realizing these things that are in the news these days are also connected to all of these other things that we’ve been talking about.”
People can process what’s going on in the world today in a more knowledgeable way through PTC productions, he added.
“The hope would be that the plays that we do really resonate and make people think and then they walk out with a more broadened perspective and more insight into human behavior,” he said.
If you’ve never seen Julius Caesar, Dobrowsky thinks this will be a production for you.
“It’s going to be fast, it’s going to be very exciting,” he said. “We have lots of really cool technical elements. There’s video, there’s projections, there’s movement, there’s a war. There are all kinds of very exciting things that are happening. If you’re really interested in Shakespeare, it is an interesting production to check out.
Dobrowsky added that: “If you are a real purist, maybe you wouldn’t love it, but this production is coming from a place of such deep love and admiration and respect for the text.”
Caesar will be on stage at Suzanne Roberts Theatre from Feb. 6 to 22. For more information and tickets, visit philadelphiatheatrecompany.org