Dobrowsky\u2019s adaptation<\/a> streamlines Shakespeare\u2019s 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. <\/p>\nThe production highlights how politicians craft \u201coptics,\u201d 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In ‘Caesar,’ there’s one narrative strand \u2014 Brutus and Cassius and their attempts to assassinate Caesar, and then what happens after they assassinate Caesar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s really fun,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s really exciting. It’s like a white-knuckle ride. You are like, \u2018Oh my God\u2019. It all happens very quickly, and it feels very visceral.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Julius Caesar, the historical figure, was assassinated after amassing too much power in a republic that prized shared authority. Rome\u2019s senators\u2014an elite ruling class with immense influence\u2014were determined to keep power concentrated among themselves, and Caesar\u2019s rise threatened that balance.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaesar was a war hero, and he was returning home after conquering this civil war,\u201d Dobrowsky explained. \u201cHe comes home and he’s going to be crowned king. The senators Brutus and Cassius \u2014 they’re basically like, \u2018We don’t want to have a king,\u2019 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dobrowsky said he thinks the play shows our most savage impulses are wrapped up with high ideals about democracy and dictatorship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCaesar’s not wearing a MAGA red hat,\u201d said Dobrowsky. \u201cWe’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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c’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,\u201d Dobrowsky continued. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
People can process what’s going on in the world today in a more knowledgeable way through PTC productions, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
If you’ve never seen Julius Caesar, Dobrowsky thinks this will be a production for you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s going to be fast, it’s going to be very exciting,\u201d he said. \u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n
Dobrowsky added that: \u201cIf 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Caesar will be on stage at Suzanne Roberts Theatre from\u00a0 Feb. 6 to 22. For more information and tickets, visit\u00a0 philadelphiatheatrecompany.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Erin Flynn Jay Philadelphia Theatre Company is taking on one of Shakespeare\u2019s most politically charged plays and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[46388,46389,69,71,70,31962],"class_list":{"0":"post-94524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-caesar","9":"tag-julius-caesar","10":"tag-philadelphia","11":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","12":"tag-philadelphia-news","13":"tag-philadelphia-theatre-company"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}