Basic HTML Version
11
washington county arts guide
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June — August
A:
Colley Cibber was born in 1671 and
was a well-known (if somewhat
unsuccessful) actor during the early
1700s in England. He was also a
playwright, and although very, very few
people know of him, he was a prolific
writer. He wrote more than 25 plays
and was the master of his own theatre,
Drury Lane (one of the most famous
theatres in all of London).
Many of his dramatic works were
adaptations of previous works by
Shakespeare and others. He was not
particularly well respected by his
colleagues; in fact, Alexander Pope
described his plays as “miserable
mutilations of crucified Molière and
hapless Shakespeare.” However,
his adaptation of Shakespeare’s
“Richard III” was so successful that it
literally pushed Shakespeare’s
version off English stages for
more than 150 years. Between
1699 and 1750, if you saw
“Richard III” you saw Cibber’s
adaptation of it.
His “Caesar in Egypt” is a
lesser known work, but is
fascinating in that it examines
the character and motivations
of Julius Caesar in surprising
and detailed ways.
Q:
What else should we know
before venturing out to see
“Julius Caesar” this August?
A:
Shakespeare’s “Julius
Caesar” should really be
called “Brutus” since Caesar
dies so early in the play and
then just wanders around as a
ghost for three-quarters of the
show. My plan is to pull
material from Cibber’s play to
augment and expand the role
of Caesar and help flesh him
out more: give the character
more to do and explore the
reasons for his vanity and
arrogance — those qualities
that, ultimately, got him
stabbed.
Cibber’s examination of Caesar is
strong, interesting and insightful, and
helps shed light on the backstory of
Shakespeare’s play. By taking some of
Cibber’s speeches, written in verse (just
like Shakespeare’s) and incorporating
them into the script, my hope is that
our audiences will get a new view of
Caesar, a different historical and
character perspective on the emperor,
and, just maybe, open up some
discussion about why he did what he
did and why he died as he died.
Also, it should be noted that Cibber’s
“Caesar in Egypt” has not been
performed anywhere in the world since
December 9, 1724 —well over 250 years.
While playing Octavius, the nephew of Caesar, in
“The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,” actress Theresa
Park often appears pensive in her dramatic role.
Caesar
continued from page 7
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“Bag&Baggage Productions will present “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”
at 7:30 p.m. each evening from Aug. 1 to 17 outdoors in front of Hillsboro’s Civic Center Plaza,
150 E. Main St. Artistic director Scott Palmer has updated and modernized the classic
Shakespearean tale so that it fits perfectly and hauntingly in our own time. Tickets are $18 per
person for all ages and can be purchased at bagnbaggage.org.
See Shakespeare outdoors
courtesy of Bag&baggage productions