麻豆影院

Shakespeare鈥檚 political thriller 鈥榤oves like a house on fire鈥�

Yes, there will be togas. No, it won鈥檛 be boring.

罢丑别听鈥檚 60th season continues with an homage to the plays performed during its first-ever summer in 1958, including a production of 鈥溾�� set in classical Rome. But while the setting evokes ancient history, Director听听assures audiences that this play is anything but.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think Shakespeare needs to be done in tights or togas, but it makes a strong statement about how timeless his themes are,鈥� Powell says. 鈥淵ou can set it in Rome, you can set it on the moon. It doesn鈥檛 matter. As long as we do our job right, the audience will make connections between then and now.鈥�

Seemingly benevolent leaders. Jealous critics. Powerful men who ignore bad omens. Lies, scheming and scandal. These are the themes in 鈥淛ulius Caesar,鈥� the spellbinding political thriller whose characters felt as real and relevant 400 years ago as they did a century ago, a generation ago鈥攁nd today.

What makes the play so timeless isn鈥檛 just its political commentary. It鈥檚 also the characters鈥攁ll of them complicated, heartbreaking and fallible.

鈥淵ou think of it as a big epic play, but it鈥檚 really a chamber piece,鈥� Powell says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an intimate drama about these very complex, very troubled people who see the writing on the wall and blithely walk into the fire anyway. We鈥檝e all done that. I鈥檓 always leaping before I look, and it generally gets me in trouble.鈥�

鈥淛ulius Caesar鈥� grabbed hold of Powell in high school and never let go. He remembers feeling awestruck when his history teacher dropped the needle on an听听with Peter Finch and Patrick Wymark.

鈥淭hey talked so fast,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it was an artistic choice or it was just to save money, but it moved like a house on fire, just at a breakneck pace, and it got me hooked. I want this production to emphasize how quickly things get wildly out of control.鈥�

础肠迟辞谤听听has played Mark Antony and Marcus Brutus in other productions of 鈥淛ulius Caesar,鈥� but this will be his first turn as the title character. He鈥檚 done extensive research on Roman history over the years and can鈥檛 wait for this new challenge.

鈥淭his guy might be the most famous person who ever lived,鈥� Sicular says. 鈥淐aesar made himself divine. He talked about himself in the third person, and he didn鈥檛 make comments so much as pronouncements. But Shakespeare has this uncanny way of finding the humanity in him.鈥�

It鈥檚 a classic Shakespearean move to turn larger-than-life historical figures into jealous lovers, insecure leaders and conflicted mothers and fathers鈥攑eople in whom we can see ourselves, togas or no togas.

鈥淗e wrote this thing 400 years ago about something that happened 2,000 years ago, but we鈥檙e still performing it,鈥� Sicular says, 鈥渂ecause the same stuff is still going on.鈥�

鈥淛ulius Caesar鈥� opens Saturday, July 8, with an audience preview on Friday, July 7, and runs through Aug. 12.听Tickets start at $20. Buy them听online at听, over the phone at 303-492-8008 or in person at the CU Presents box office, 972 Broadway, 麻豆影院. The box office is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and is located in the University Club building on the CU 麻豆影院 campus.