BWW Reviews: JULIUS CAESAR, The Brockley Jack, March 1 2012

Immersion Theatre transport Shakespeare's tale of ambition, honour and friendship to the back streets of a dark city in which sex and violence are never far away. With a young cast and a Mad Max aesthetic of black leather and chains, this is a Rome in which life is played out not in an eternal city, but one in which life is nasty, brutish and short, as Rome prosecutes wars on its borders and harbours feuds at its heart. Fans of Starz's electrifying Spartacus television franchise will understand. 

Stripped down on a stark almost empty set, a conspiracy is hatched to down the growing power of Caesar (Anna Bond - a matriarch suggestive, inevitably, of Mrs Thatcher), led by the sly and seductive Cassius (Rochelle Parry) and given wing by its recruitment of the noble Brutus (Liam Mulvey) whose high-minded concern for the good of Rome provides cover for the conspirators' envy. With the ability to mask his Cassius-like ruthlessness with Brutus-like appeals to honour, Mark Antony (James Clifford) appeals to the crowd's emotions over its principles, makes an ally of Octavius (Eleanor Burke) and ultimately defeats Cassius and Brutus in battle paving his own route to power - a path foreseen by him within seconds of his discovery of Caesar's murder.

Directors James Tobias and Roderick D Morgan are to be commended for taking so many chances with a play that will be familiar to many in their audiences. I liked the gender shifts, with Cassius' manipulation of Casca particularly impressive and the Sin City feel also worked well. Less successful was the use of music (Led Zeppelin's overly familiar Kashmir drowning out Mark Antony's pivotal "Et tu Brute?" line) and the delivery of lines was too often at one pitch - anguished desperation. There is plenty enough emotion suggested by the acting  - the verse could have been allowed to breathe a little more with more of its clever nuance coming through.

Teenage audiences will be thrilled to see their classroom studies brought to life in a world familiar to them and older audiences will enjoy the underlining of the timeless universality of Shakey's insights into the vulnerabilities of men and women. With a slightly more relaxed, less helter-skelter approach, I'd have enjoyed it even more.

Julius Caesar is at The Brockley Jack until 10 March 2012.