Review: BALTIMORE, LEND ME YOUR EAR! at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Attend, ye gentle souls, and lend thine ear,
For in fair Baltimore this night was shown
A Roman tale of blood and grievous fear,
Where Caesar's star did blaze and then was gone.

One does not have to be a fan of Shakespeare (or iambic pentameter) to know the tragic tale of JULIUS CAESAR – how this would-be-Emperor was felled by members of the Roman Senate, Caesar’s failure to beware the Ides of March, the famed line, “Et tu, Brute?”, before falling in a pool of blood and history.

What’s particularly interesting about this play is how the titular character has, in fact, a rather small role in this production, presented of late by the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company “In-The-Ruins,” the Patapsco Female Institute Historic Park in Historic Ellicott City. The true focus of the play is actually the characters of Marcus Brutus, Caia Cassius and Mark Antony, played by Jose O. Guzman, Laura Artesi and Gabriel Alejandro, who bring considerable energy and talent to their roles.

The players bold, in tunics trimmed with pride,
Did strut upon the boards with noble grace.
Their tongues did dance where rhetoric doth bide,
Each line well-placed, each passion in its place.

Laurels a’plenty to director Marcus Kyd who instills in this fine ensemble cast a sprightly pace, tinged with modern inflection and tasty bits of humor to provide relief from the weight of plots and political intrigue.

Guzman shines as the conflicted Brutus, who is torn between his affection for Caesar (DeJeanette Horne) and his desire to keep Rome a republic. The play is most engaging when Brutus sides and spars with Artesi’s Cassius, who is more direct in expressing her desire for Caesar’s downfall, serving as a whetstone to Brutus’ blade, urging him and their followers to the final bloody act on the Roman Senate floor. Alejandro uses his muscled physique to his advantage as the warrior and obedient vassal of Caesar, focusing the audience’s attention with the famed line, “Friends, Romans, Countrymen—Lend me your Ears!”

The supporting actors, such Gary DuBreuil (Decius Brutus, Cobbler, Lepidus), Sandy Borrero (Portia, Messenger, 1st Plebian), Molly Moores (Calphurnia, Popilius Lena, Pindarus, 3rd Plebian) and Kate Forton (Lucilia, Soothsayer, Attendant to Caesar, Octavia’s Page) do yeoman’s service in their multiple roles, switching seamlessly in character so as to cause no confusion in the audience. Forton scored laughs as the spooky sibyl, and Borrero’s heart-torn Portia, as Brutus’ wife, expresses her pain and fear in voice, body, and spirit.

The stage, though modest, served as grand parade:
With torch and steel, the Forum came to life.
A chorus cloaked in shadows lent its aid
To murmur fate and whisper of the strife.

Watching Shakespeare come alive outdoors gives this play a greater veracity than a typical, wooden-stage-with-curtain production. The Ellicott City site’s weathered stone, accentuated with faux stone lion statues, drums, and banners of blue and gold provide a fine setting for Shakespeare’s tragedy.

Fight director and dance/movement choreographer Lorraine Ressegger Slone earns a few tossed bouquets for her work in keeping the actors, who seem never seem to stop moving, on their toes, producing a sense of urgency so befitting this play which is, after all, about revolution. Caesar’s death scene – well played by Horne – could fall into farce, but is carried out well as one character after another, drives their daggers home like an exclamation mark at the end of the sentence they deliver on to Caesar.

Thus hath this troupe, in Maryland’s proud heart,
Revived a tale of daggers, doom, and doubt.
Their art did pierce like Brutus’ cruel dart—
A spectacle, both mighty and devout.

Like Forton’s Soothsayer, I bid thee warning. While the outdoors adds much to this production, it can harm it as well. The woeful whistle of a passing locomotive does little to keep one’s mind in ancient Rome. Further, as was the case in the production this reviewer saw, rain can bring the play to a sudden stop.

If thou would’st see where honor meets with sin,
Then haste thee there, ere March winds blow again.

Don't wait until March 15th, make haste to the Ruins to see this play!

The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s production of JULIUS CAESAR continues now through July 20th, beginning 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays, 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 6 p.m. on Sundays. Kids get in free and guests are encouraged to bring picnics and wine, or reserve one of the Family or Date-Night tables. Adult tickets start at $50. For tickets, visit ChesapeakeShakespeare.com or call 410-244-8570.

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