Review: JULIUS CAESAR at Mānoa Valley Theatre

Shakespeare’s timeless tale of power, corruption, and the court of public opinion has landed at Mānoa Valley Theatre, the second and final offering of the 2026 Hawai’i Shakespeare Festival. Director Alex Munro has reimagined the story, lifting it from antiquity and plopping it squarely into modern-day American politics and the digital era, trading in togas and scrolls for power suits and smartphones. The sparse, whitewashed set (Teia O'Malley) evokes both the marble edifices of the Roman Senate as well as the marble halls of Congress in Washington, lending a cold and stark feeling to the playing space. The various blocks and platforms are rearranged throughout the show to serve as different settings. Janine Myers’ design dynamic lighting choices (including a very effective abstract moment during—spoiler alert—Caesar’s murder) add to this aesthetic. However, it is the programming of the five hanging television screens suspended from the ceiling, spanning the stage, that let you know immediately that this is not your average Julius Caesar. Video clips (design by Michael Hall and Munro) are played throughout the show, often as transitionary elements, but also broadcasting in-universe social media livestreams, TikTok poetry, and text alerts. It is clear that an incredible amount of care and work went into the creation and execution of these videos, and I can attest that they were both effective and chilling, reminding the audience how what we see on our phones and laptops may not always represent the whole truth, that we can be just as easily manipulated by false visuals as the Roman populace was by charismatic orators. These video elements were incredibly ambitious, and the team pulled it off beautifully.

The cast is quite strong overall, including some excellent performances by Kevin Keaveney as Antony, Ari Agodong as Cassius, and Lacey Chu as Brutus. The gender-swapping for Cassius and Brutus was an especially interesting choice, as it elevated the conflict between their faction and Caesar (Rob Duval)/Antony beyond just political maneuvering, peppering their talk about their rivals with a subtle layer of gender-based condescension. As the show has been significantly cut down for time (running just about two hours total, not including intermission), we do lose some of the more nuanced motivations behind the characters, but all the major developmental points remain intact. Madison Cuartas as Brutus’ wife Portia had a compelling moment in the spotlight, and the interweaving of Duval’s ghostly post-mortem apparition and Hadasah R. Nelson as the lightly comic Lucius were additional standouts.

Catch this exciting production of Julius Caesar before it closes on August 9!

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