Shakespeare in the Park is a New York tradition. Most days of the week in summer, people line up starting at 6:00 A.M. to wait in line for free tickets to one of two of the season's shows (this year, they performed "Winter's Tale" and "The Merchant of Venice"). As ticket distribution doesn't actually begin until 1:00 P.M., I chose to bypass this step and try my luck in the online lottery; all one has to do is sign up each day there is a performance and hope for the best. Alas, I started late and I didn't win tickets for either show. So I was pleased when my friend Julia emailed me about another way to see Shakespeare for free. A troupe called Drilling Company Theater would be performing "Julius Caesar," also for free, although we wouldn't be heading to idyllic Central Park to see it. We headed, instead, to a parking lot in Chinatown.
I have no idea what drilling has to do with Shakespeare, but whatever the connection, I fully support it. The show was fantastic and I remained absorbed nearly the whole way through. (My only complaint is that there was no intermission during the 2 1/2-hour long play, although I'm not sure where they would have put it as the play gains momentum with each scene.) We arrived to a ring of plastic chairs surrounding an open area with a small platform in the center. People trickled in until nearly all the chairs were full (there was standing room only by the time the performance was in full swing), and while we waited for the play to begin, actors occasionally marched, chanting, across the stage with signs that said things like "Keep Julius Caesar out of our schools!" There were lots of other modern touches: half of the actors were female and all of them wore modern clothing (Cassius was played by a badass chick in a power suit), when Caesar was stabbed to death his assailants wielded office implements rather than swords, and Cassius and Brutus plotted with the help of a flip chart which outlined possible courses of action. The Soothsayer wore aviator sunglasses and smoked a cigarette while lounging against a street light. Other aspects of modernity were present as well. Now and then, an actor's words would be drowned out by a siren in the distance. The stage was illuminated by headlights as cars entered the parking lot. Despite these reminders that we were not in the Globe, each word of the original play was intact. This was not a contemporary interpretation, but the real thing.
The actors, all of whom I think are volunteers, were superb. Most were young and hip-looking, which is not the way I'd usually describe a Shakespearean actor. The role of Cassius was played better than I've ever seen it, and Marc Antony was great as well. Julia and I ended up in the front row, and we were feet away from the action the whole time. It was great to be able to appreciate the subtle expressions on the actors' faces. I had to teach "Julius Caesar" when I was at McGavock and it wasn't a great experience - the kids weren't that into it. This time, however, I loved it.
After the show, Julia told me that she got a little obsessed with Roman history after reading the play for the first time and regaled me with information about the real Marc Antony, about Caesar's successor, Octavius, and other interesting facts. We made plans to throw an Ides of March toga party on March 15th, and she told me that she and her friends once threw a "Twelfth Night" party on Twelfth Night during which they wore costumes, read the play aloud, and did a shot after each scene. Julia is my kind of girl.
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