RSC's Prison-Framed Julius Caesar Stuns School Audiences — SkimNews
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- Royal Shakespeare Company revives Phyllida Lloyd’s all-female production of Julius Caesar for a secondary school tour, setting the play within a women’s prison narrative
- Harriet Walter reprises her role as Brutus, delivering a clear-eyed, idealistic performance that anchors the production’s moral complexity
- Jackie Clune returns as Julius Caesar, portraying the leader with a strutting, leather-clad presence that underscores the play’s political hubris
- Leah Harvey takes on Mark Antony with a mix of earnestness and vengeful calculation, marking a significant evolution from their prior role as the soothsayer in 2016
- Bunny Christie’s minimalist set design uses grey institutional clothing and CCTV screens to blur the lines between prison reality and Shakespearean drama
- Zeynep Kepekli’s lighting and an electronic score featuring Stormzy and Fatboy Slim heighten the tension, aligning the play’s violence with contemporary youth gang culture
Why it matters: By staging *Julius Caesar* in schools with a prison framework and modern sonic and visual cues, the RSC makes classical theatre accessible and urgent for new audiences—proving that stripped-down, concept-driven productions can have greater impact than traditional lavish stagings, especially when engaging students who might otherwise disengage from Shakespeare.
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