Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company Takes JULIUS CAESAR on Tour

After opening last week in Muskegon for several high school matinees and a one-night performance at the Beardsley Theater (in partnership with the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts and a grant from Target Stores in support of projects combining the arts and education), Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company will take its spring production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to venues in Grand Rapids and Spring Lake, opening April 2nd.

The Bard's famous tragedy takes its inspiration from Roman history and the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar, the title role played by Scott Wright.

"Rome was an empire built on hero worship," says Brad Sytsma (Marc Antony). "The play opens with the commoners celebrating Caesar in the streets for his victory over Pompey. The idea that Caesar is the hero of Rome is believed so deeply by the commoners that they are willing to make Caesar their king."

Scott Wright agrees. "Caesar was a great man, historically speaking. His accomplishments both politically and militarily had already made him legendary and one of the most powerful men in Rome - possibly in the world. He is popular with the common people and with the military, especially those who campaigned with him. He rules, as the saying goes, with an iron fist in a velvet glove. He is strong-willed and vain - just because he is, and because he can be."

This does not sit well with Marcus Brutus (Jon Clausen), a Roman senator who is torn between his friendship with Caesar and his loyalty to Rome. When Caesar seems to be gaining too much power, and is in danger of becoming a tyrant, Brutus is persuaded by his fellow senator Caius Cassius (Scott Lange) to plot with other conspirators against Caesar.

"Brutus' family lineage and birthright is that as a defender of the commonwealth. His primary motivation is the protection of Rome's commonwealth from those who would seek to subvert the power of citizens. Marcus Brutus' ancestor, Lucius Junius Brutus, was the founder of the Roman Republic and led the revolt that killed Rome's last king, Lucius Tarquinius," says Clausen. "If Caesar is made a king, it negates the work of Brutus' ancestors and, by proxy, his birthright. This, I believe, is the fatal flaw that leads him to conspire with Cassius and company. [Brutus] is the tragic hero and a victim of times and circumstance."

But this is only the beginning - the well-known conspiracy and events of the Ides of March and resulting plots for revenge turn the citizens of Rome against one another, and against the men they once held in such high esteem. This leads to something far more frightening: a war between two regimes where the lines between hero and villain are often slurred.

Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company, based in Grand Haven, Michigan, produces shows in conditions similar to how they would be used in Shakespeare's time, introducing a note of authenticity not seen in other groups. Some of these practices include thrust-staging, with the audience on three sides of the performance space, universal lighting, meaning the audience is in same light as the actors, cast-doubling, where each cast member plays multiple roles, and engaging in audience contact, breaking the fourth wall to make the audience a part of the performance.

Directed by Katherine Mayberry, Music Direction by Scott Lange, Fight Direction by Scott Wright; Julius Caesar will be taking place April 2-4 and 10-11 at 8:00 p.m., April 12 at 3:00 p.m. at Dog Story Theater, 7 Jefferson SE Grand Rapids, MI. Tickets are $14 for adults, $7 for students and seniors. For tickets, visit www.dogstorytheater.com; April 18 at 7:30 p.m. at Seven Steps Up, 116 South Jackson Spring Lake, MI; For tickets, call the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company at 616-850-0916. For more information about all of Pigeon Creek's upcoming events, visit pcshakespeare.com.

STARRING: Jon Clausen (Marcus Brutus), Kimi Griggs (Calpurnia/Artemidorus/Varro/Clitus/Ensemble), Kat Hermes (Metellus Cimber/Lucius/Volumnius/Ensemble), Zachary Carlton Johnson (Casca/Titinius/Ensemble), Scott Lange (Cassius/Lepidus/Ensemble), Chad Marriott (Cinna the conspirator/Octavius Caesar/Ensemble), Eric Orive (Decius Brutus/Flavius/Dardanius/Ensemble), Brad Sytsma (Marc Antony), Kate Tubbs (Portia/Cicero/Marullus/Ensemble), Scott Wright (Julius Caesar/Strato/Pindarus), and Stephen Douglas Wright (Cinna the poet/Soothsayer/Trebonius/Messala).