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.
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