Tragical Mirth Tour | 2007
Cast
Murellus
previously with asc: 44 roles in 21 productions, including Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac; Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing; Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Warwick in Henry VI, …
Flavius
previously with asc: Titania and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sister Claire in Cyrano de Bergerac, Decius Brutus in Julius Caesar. other theatres: 6-year company member with the Hubbard …
A Cobbler
previously with asc: Portia in Julius Caesar, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Duenna in Cyrano de Bergerac. other theatres: Desdemona in Othello (Abingdon Theatre, NY); Miranda in The Tempest …
A Carpenter
perviously with asc: 15 roles in 6 productions, including Widow in Taming of the Shrew; Lady Northumberland in Henry IV, Part 2; Starveling in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. other theatres: …
Caesar
previously with asc: De Guiche in Cyrano de Bergerac, Caesar in Julius Caesar, Egeus and Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. other theatres: Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Glade …
Brutus
previously with asc: Brutus in Julius Caesar, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Montfleury, D’Artagnan in Cyrano de Bergerac. other theatres: Sir Walter Raleigh in The Lost Colony (Lost Colony, …
Cassius
previously with asc: Le Bret in Cyrano de Bergerac, Theseus and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cassius in Julius Caesar. other theatres: Summer and Winter Season at the Theatre …
Casca
previously with asc: Ragueneau in Cyrano de Bergerac, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Casca in Julius Caesar. other theatres: Verges in Much Ado About Nothing, Prince of Arragon and …
Decius
previously with asc: Titania and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sister Claire in Cyrano de Bergerac, Decius Brutus in Julius Caesar. other theatres: 6-year company member with the Hubbard …
Cinna
previously with asc: 44 roles in 21 productions, including Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac; Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing; Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Warwick in Henry VI, …
Chris Johnston has over 20 years of theatre experience and more than 120 productions at the American Shakespeare Center.
Trebonius
perviously with asc: 15 roles in 6 productions, including Widow in Taming of the Shrew; Lady Northumberland in Henry IV, Part 2; Starveling in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. other theatres: …
Ligarius
previously with asc: Le Bret in Cyrano de Bergerac, Theseus and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cassius in Julius Caesar. other theatres: Summer and Winter Season at the Theatre …
Antony
previously with asc: Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac, Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Antony in Julius Caesar. other theatres: Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (The Hazlitt Theatre, Kent, England); …
Chris Johnston has over 20 years of theatre experience and more than 120 productions at the American Shakespeare Center.
Lepidus
previously with asc: Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Calphurnia in Julius Caesar. other theatres: Maria in The Sound of Music and Catherine in Pippin …
Calphurnia
previously with asc: Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Calphurnia in Julius Caesar. other theatres: Maria in The Sound of Music and Catherine in Pippin …
Portia
previously with asc: Portia in Julius Caesar, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Duenna in Cyrano de Bergerac. other theatres: Desdemona in Othello (Abingdon Theatre, NY); Miranda in The Tempest …
Lucius
previously with asc: Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Calphurnia in Julius Caesar. other theatres: Maria in The Sound of Music and Catherine in Pippin …
Cicero
perviously with asc: 15 roles in 6 productions, including Widow in Taming of the Shrew; Lady Northumberland in Henry IV, Part 2; Starveling in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. other theatres: …
Publius
previously with asc: Portia in Julius Caesar, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Duenna in Cyrano de Bergerac. other theatres: Desdemona in Othello (Abingdon Theatre, NY); Miranda in The Tempest …
Chris Johnston has over 20 years of theatre experience and more than 120 productions at the American Shakespeare Center.
Cinna
previously with asc: Titania and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sister Claire in Cyrano de Bergerac, Decius Brutus in Julius Caesar. other theatres: 6-year company member with the Hubbard …
Lucilius
previously with asc: Portia in Julius Caesar, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Duenna in Cyrano de Bergerac. other theatres: Desdemona in Othello (Abingdon Theatre, NY); Miranda in The Tempest …
Titinius
previously with asc: 44 roles in 21 productions, including Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac; Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing; Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Warwick in Henry VI, …
Messala
previously with asc: Ragueneau in Cyrano de Bergerac, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Casca in Julius Caesar. other theatres: Verges in Much Ado About Nothing, Prince of Arragon and …
Cato
previously with asc: Titania and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sister Claire in Cyrano de Bergerac, Decius Brutus in Julius Caesar. other theatres: 6-year company member with the Hubbard …
Strato
previously with asc: De Guiche in Cyrano de Bergerac, Caesar in Julius Caesar, Egeus and Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. other theatres: Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Glade …
Pindarus
previously with asc: De Guiche in Cyrano de Bergerac, Caesar in Julius Caesar, Egeus and Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. other theatres: Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Glade …
Artemidorus
previously with asc: 44 roles in 21 productions, including Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac; Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing; Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Warwick in Henry VI, …
Chris Johnston has over 20 years of theatre experience and more than 120 productions at the American Shakespeare Center.
Artistic Team
Director
Colleen Kelly is an accomplished fight choreographer and director whose extensive experience with ASC spans over two decades.
Assistant Director
Aaron has been the Resident Troupe Manager since the 2008 Summer Season. In previous seasons with the ASC, Aaron has directed The Santaland Diaries and A Christmas Carol; been the …
Jenny McNee joined the ASC in 2002 after studying in Richmond, Charlottesville, and Edinburgh, Scotland. She has designed and built nearly 100 shows (60 resident and touring shows, 35 holiday …
Assistant to the Director
Cassie is Tour Manager and the Assistant Director for the Stark Raving Sane Tour, and the co-director for A Christmas Carol. Previous ASC credits include Bring ‘Em Back Alive staged …
Research Contributor
Mary Coy is a 2006 graduate of the Mary Baldwin College MLitt/MFA in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance. ASC credits include production assistant (The Complete Works of Wllm Shakespeare …
Research Contributor
previously with asc: Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet, Philotis in ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, Winifred and Hamlet in Eastward Ho!. other theatres: Natasha in The Three Sisters, Sonja …
Stuff that happens during the play
- In Rome, the people are celebrating the return of Caesar from a military triumph over Pompey’s sons.
- Caesar’s growing popularity spurs a conspiracy among the late Pompey’s followers and among others worried about Caesar’s power.
- Cassius tries to convert Brutus to the conspiracy.
- On a stormy night, the conspirators convince Brutus of their cause. Brutus’s wife, Portia, asks him to tell her what is troubling him.
- On the night before the coup, Caesar’s wife, Calphurnia, has a disturbing dream and asks him to stay home. The priests, too, try to prevent Caesar from leaving the house; a conspirator, Decius Brutus, reinterprets Calphurnia’s dream favorably and conducts Caesar to the Capitol.
- While Mark Antony – loyal to Caesar – is distracted, the conspirators stab Caesar. Antony submits to the conspirators and obtains Brutus’s permission to speak at the funeral.
- After Brutus defends his actions to the crowd, Mark Antony incites the crowd against the conspirators, who flee Rome.
- Antony joins Octavius Caesar (Julius’s nephew) and Lepidus to battle the conspirators.
- Antony and Octavius combine forces and pursue Cassius and Brutus who are in a camp near Sardis.
- Brutus and Cassius argue bitterly but make up. Brutus tells Cassius some bad news. Brutus persuades Cassius to meet the enemy at Philippi.
- Ghostly visitations, battles, and bad judgement ensue.
what was and what may be
“…How many ages hence
Shall this our lofty scene be acted over
In states unborn and accents yet unknown!”
Williams Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar was first performed at the Globe in 1599, so the theatrical enactment of the assassination of Caesar has been performed for over 400 years. Considering that the actual events surrounding this assassination occurred in 44 BC, however, this “lofty scene” has been enacted world-wide for 2,050 years. Twenty centuries and a half of noble causes, honorable intentions, bold enterprises, courageous actions, righteous rebellions, abuses of power, political overthrows, persuasive speeches, assassinations, social dissent, war, and death. As dramatic scenes go – quite a long run for mankind.
What is it that keeps man acting out this real-life scene and stage-life play? This question permeates Shakespeare’s text. In fact, the word “why” appears over forty times in Julius Caesar. Although Shakespeare does not provide an answer, he does create characters who are searching for the answer – characters sorting through a dilemma of purpose and explanation. Ultimately, how they choose to reason, justify, and motivate their way to taking action, will define who they are in the world. These are stage characters in search of character at a deeply personal level.
The play begins with two Roman tribunes chastising citizens for behaving out of character. The play ends with Antony praising the ethical make-up of Brutus: “the elements / So mixed in him that Nature might stand up / And say ‘This was a man!’” The characters who journey between the beginning and end of this play do not enjoy a simple, comfortable, present-tense existence. These are characters who are haunted by the past and ruled by the future; characters caught in a struggle between heart and mind, between serving self and serving the good of the world, and between the truth of what was and the possibility of what might be.
As in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, much of this play takes place in the interval between thought and action; at a time when, as Brutus observes:
“…The genius and the mortal instruments
Are then in council, and the state of man,
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
The nature of an insurrection.”
To quote Hamlet, “What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason…” Well, sometimes. Reason can certainly direct hopes and dreams toward wonderful invention. Yet, as in Julius Caesar, reason informed by fear can lead to action in the absence of evidence. As Brutus’s reasoning concludes,
“So Caesar may.
Then, lest he may, prevent. And since the quarrel
Will bear no color for the thing he is,
Fashion it thus: that what he is, augmented,
Would run to these and these extremities.
And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg
Which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous,
And kill him in the shell.”
In our political world today, the “lofty scene” continues to play. A memory of what was and a concern for what may be drives us to reason, justify, and motivate, the “why” of noble causes, honorable intentions, bold enterprises, courageous actions, righteous rebellions, abuses of power, political overthrows, persuasive speeches, assassinations, social dissent, war, and death. Personally, I prefer the stage version.
colleen kelly
Guest Director