Julius CaesarPlaywright: William Shakespeare

DirectorReagan Williams

Casting

• Casting is an important part of directing. If the director does not choose the right actors, the play could be a complete flop.

• All of the actors chosen for Julius Caesar were chosen based on their previous acting experiences, many of which were in Shakespearean theatre.

Julius Caesar and his wife Calpurnia

• Played by Keanu Reeves Played by Natalie Portman

Brutus and his wife Octavia

• Played by Tom Hiddleston Played by Keira Knightly

Antony –Christian Bale

Cassius – Johnny Depp

Octavius – Orlando Bloom

Casca – Denzel Washington

Flavuis – ViggoMortensen

Cicero – Leonardo DiCaprio

Lepiclus –Willem DaFoe

Murellus –Robert Downy Jr.

Decuis – Mark Ruffalo

Soothsayer –Morgan Freeman

Spine

• The spine of the play Julius Caesar is the overwhelming desire for power and the conflicts associated with it.

Themes

• There are many underlying themes of Julius Caesar, however, thisproduction would focus on the following themes:• Fate vs free will

• Public self vs private self

• Rhetoric and power

Style

• The style of this production of Julius Caesar would be realism, that is,the production would try to be realistic when it comes to things suchas language, costumes, and set.

Directorial Concept

• This play would be performed in the same way Shakespeare would have had it performed when he wrote it, minus men playing the role of women. We would try to hold as true to the script as possible.

Set Design

Hasan Siddiqui

1249469

The Scenic Environment

• In this interpretation of Julius Caesar, the set design was

portrayed for use on a proscenium stage, however can be

altered for other stage types.

• Given the era and time period of Julius Caesar, the set reflects

Ancient Roman architecture around 44 B.C.

• The set also creates an environment to aid the performers

along with the performance as a whole.

Style and Mood

The genre of Julius Caesar is a tragedy. Therefor the play has a

darker mood. In order to incorporate that in into the set design,

we avoid bright colors and focus more on duller period correct

props, lighting and scenery.

The architecture of the play should be designed to fit that of

Ancient Roman design. Examples would include columns and an

overall concrete and cemented feel to the set.

Realistic & Non-realistic Scenery

One of the most important roles a set designer has is to aid in

distinguishing between realistic and non-realistic theatre.

In realistic scenery, it is crucial to make settings look like their

counterparts in reality.

An example of realistic scenery would be in Act 2, Scene 1 in

Brutus’s orchard. The scene should mirror what the orchard

would look like in reality.

Locale and period

• The play takes place in Ancient

Rome just after Julius Caesar

has defeated Pompey and his

kin.

• The time period is around 44-

45 B.C.

Design Concept

• The goal in the design concept is to portray

Shakespeare’s view of what Ancient Roman society was

like.

• Due to Shakespeare living in the Elizabethan period,

there will inadvertently be a slight Elizabethan touch to

the Ancient Roman set.

Sets

For this production we would use four main settings that can be

used interchangeably throughout the play to serve as various

different places.

• Public Street

• House

• Capitol

• Field

Public Street Set

• This street set will be used throughout Act 1, and will appear

every time a scene is set in a public place.

• For this set we would concentrate on recreating key points of

Ancient Roman Architecture.

Public Street Set

This image is an almost perfect pictorial representation of what

the Public Street set should look like. It captures Ancient Roman

Architecture perfectly with the arches and columns.

House Set

• This set will used for Act 2, Scene 2 as Caesar’s house

• The following illustration from Illustrated History of Furniture,

From the Earliest to the Present Time from 1893 by Frederick

Litchfield adequately captures my view of the House set.

House Set

Capitol Set

• This set will be used for the Scene involving the senate in Act

3, Scene 1. This set can essentially be the same as the House set

with the exception for risers being placed to hide the backdrop

of the house.

• The following picture shows a potential configuration of what

the Capitol set can look like.

Capitol Set

Field Set

• This will be used a for acts 4 and 5 as the battle field and the

camp of Brutus

• This should by far be the simplest set. Pieces of backdrop from

other sets such as the columns can be used in the backdrop

along with a green grass like flooring if deemed necessary, at

the discretion of the director.

Field Set

• The field set should be

somewhat similar to the

painting, however

obviously it not necessary

to be nearly as intricate.

Source Links

• http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/bath/

• http://www.lib-art.com/imgpaintingthumb/3/8/t1883-battle-

scene-with-a-roman-army-besi-juan-de-la-corte.jpg

• http://www.modernlibrary.com/2010/09/13/view-a-

shakespearean-theater/

• Illustrated History of Furniture, From the Earliest to the

Present Time from 1893 by Frederick Litchfield

Julius Caesar Light Design

The various types and uses of lighting and how they may be used in order to perfect a play.

By Kiya Shazadeh SafaviID#1249747

Functions of Lighting Design

• Lighting in plays can serve many roles. The primary uses for lighting design in a production are to:

• Provide visibility

• Reveal shapes/forms

• Provide focus onstage

• Assist in creating mood and style

• Help establish the setting

• Establish a rhythm of movement.

Kinds of Lighting

• Ellipsoidal reflector spotlight- creates a hard-edged spotlight that can be focused on a part of the stage to draw the audiences attention.

• Soft-edged spotlight- can be used to create a soft-edged beam of light that can be focused or can be flooded in order to cover a large area on the stage.

• Floodlights- cover a large portion of that stage and create a smooth, diffused wash of light.

Act I, scene i

• When Caesar enters Rome triumphantly on his chariot you would want to use lighting that would best invoke a sense of glory to the audience.

• I would use floodlights to cover the stage in a white color then add a combination of yellow, orange, and red flood lights of different intensities in order to give the stage an almost gold color. This lighting would invoke the sense of glory that I believe the play calls for.

Act I, scene iii

• This is the fist time that some of the conspirators have come together, it takes place during the night and causes some of the conspirators to become uneasy.

• To show how it is night I would flood the stage with a combination of a dark blue, slightly purple, and even a small amount of black/gray color. I would then try to make very small gray lights on the upper part of the back wall to make them look like bright stars covered by clouds. I would also put a small streak of white light on stage that is meant to look as if it were the moon light.

Act III, scene i

• This is the scene where the conspirators finally accomplish their plan of killing Caesar.

• As Caesar gets stabbed, I would do a cross-fade in which all of the lights would be dimmed while making the red flood lights around Caesar and the conspirators slowly increase in brightness and intensity to invoke a sense of betrayal and brutality within the audience.

Act III, scene ii

• This is when Antony is making his speech at Caesars funeral, takes place during the day time so I would make it so that there would be a white flood of light, combined with orange, red, and yellow at very low intensities to make it look as if it were daytime. I would then put a spotlight on Antony while he were giving his speech in order to focus the audiences attention on the importance of what he says and how it drastically affects the plot.

Act V, Scene v

• This is the part where Antony and Octavius find Brutus’ dead body.

• In order to drag the audiences attention to Antony, Octavius, and Brutus’ dead body I would dim all of the floodlights on stage so that the stage would be dark and then put spotlights on the characters near Brutus’ dead body, thereby, marking the significance of what is taking place in this scene.

COSTUME DESIGNING

By: Aayush Shah

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

• The play Julius Caesar is located in ancient Rome in 44 B.C. The costumes of the civilians, soldiers, and the bureaucrats reflects the culture of that period of the era.

• During this era, only the citizens of Rome were allowed to were a toga, which was specifically meant as a public display garment. The tunica is also worn by anyone for their comfort.

• There are different types of tunica and toga that were worn by the people with different status, occupation, and personalities. The peasants, the magistrates, and the senators were distinct tunics to signify one’s title. Thus, the most distinct person had the most distinctly marked cloths. And the lower classes had no marks in their cloths.

• Toga was wore during the peace time where as Sagum cloak was wore during the war times.

THE HIERARCHY OF CLOTHING

• Emeprors: The emperors or any other status equal to deities wore a toga called Trabea.

• Senators: The senators wore a tunic with broad purple strips on the fore part called the tunica laticlavia. But the boarder on the tuga indicates that the person has held at least one curule office.

• Military: The tunics for Military were shorter than ordinary citizens, primarily for the comfort during the combat. The General of the Military usually wears a cloak and a uniform.

• Women: The women did not wear any distinctive clothing in terms of social class or wealth. In fact, the only distinctive clothing they wore was Stola, which was a symbol of marriage for women. Although the more respectable women sometimes wore a pallaover the stola.

• Citizens: The Citizens of the Rome were the only people who were allowed to wear a toga, which had no stripes or any decoration on it. This undyed wool toga with off-white color is called Toga virilis.

• Slaves: The slaves were not allowed to wear a toga, due to their lack of citizenship, and therefore only wore a tunic, which was plain and did not have any distinctive cloths to indicate their status.

SPECIAL OCCASION/COLOR CODE• Trabea: This was the Toga that was entirely dyed

in purple and therefore was worn by an Emperor or and equally status of dieties.

• Toga Picta: This was the Toga with golden border which was worn by the generals after their victories or triumphs.

• Toga Pulla: This was the Toga with dark-colored wool, indicating a dark event and thus was worn during mourning periods.

• Toga Praetextata: This was the Toga with purple border which was worn by the magistrates during the official ceremonies.

• Red boarders: This was the Toga with red boarders that was worn by men and women during festivals.

• Saffron Toga: This was the Toga that was white with purple bands and was usually worn by priestesses and augurs.

FOOTWEARFootwear is also a very important part of costume

as it defined a person’s position in the Roman society. Sandals, or open toes footwear, were usually wore indoors. Shoes, or closed toes footwear, were usually wore outdoors. There were differences in footwear colors for different people with different status.

• Women wore either white, green, or yellow footwear.

• Senators wore brown footwear with black strap.

• Soldiers wore heavy boots.

Sandals

JEWELRY

• In ancient Rome, Roman citizen men only wore one piece of jewelry which was usually a ring. The rings did not distinct between any to men of different social status. The ring consisted of a symbol that reflected the personality of the wearer and was therefore called a signet ring.

• Upper-class women usually wore substantial amount of jewelry. Most common piece of Jewelry included necklaces, hairpins, earring, bracelets, and rings. Jewelry was one way to distinguish the women in ancient Rome. Women usually wore a “make-up” through saffron and chalk.

HAIRSTYLES

• The hair were short for the men and were often clean shaven. Hairstyles did not matter much amongst the men since there were other elements that distinguished men from each other for social status, such as clothing and footwear.

• Since clothes were not the means to distinguish the women, Hairstyles and jewelry were the primary means of distinction and appearance amongst the women. Usually, women wore false hairpins to make their hair seem longer and thicker.

JULIUS CAESARToga Picta

Trabea

Although Caesar denies

dictatorship and rejects the

crown three times, his

absolute power over Rome

makes him look like an

“Emperor”.

Julius Caesar is a great Roman General

and a senator. At the beginning of the

play, he returns from a successful

military campaign and therefore his

costume will be Toga Picta.

Caesar had a unique ring

of an armored Venus.

Signet ring

MARCUS BRUTUS

Angusticlavia

Brutus is the best friend of Caesar but he

believes that his power over the Rome will

cause dictatorship and thus thinks that Caesar

has to die in order to preserve Rome.

Therefore, he also takes part in Caesar’s

assassination and at that time he will be

wearing a Angusticlavia.

He is also an excellent military

leader and thus he will be dressed

with a sagum cloak and a uniform

when he is at war against

Octavius.

Military uniform

Mark Antony Octavius Cassius

Mark Antony was the

general and the

military leader. Thus he

will be wearing a

uniform and a cloak,

but more descriptive to

distinguish himself from

other soldiers.

Octavius was the

successor of Julius Caesar

and therefore he will be

wearing partial Trabea

with military cloths.

Cassius was a part of

the senate. He will be

wearing Tunic laticlavia.

Soothsayer Soldiers Senators/Conspirators

The soothsayer will be

dressed with saffron

toga.

The soldiers will be

wearing plain cloaks

and uniforms. This will

distinguish them from

the generals.

All the senators were

involved in the assassination

of the Caesar and thus were

also known as the

conspirators. They will have a

costume of tunica laticlavia.

Citizens Slaves Females

The citizens of Rome

were the only people

who were allowed to

wear a Toga. The

working class or the

peasants wore the plain

toga to distinguish them

from the elite people

The slaves were not

considered as the

citizens of Rome and

therefore they were

forbidden from

wearing Toga.

Instead, they wore

plain and simple tunic

of any cheap fabrics.

Married women are supposed to

wear a stola as a sign of their

marriage. Calpurnia and Portia

are respectable upper class

females and thus wore a palla

over the stola. Lower class

women wore simple type of

stola.