You are directing a performance of "Julius Caesar". How would you direct the actors and use stage craft to create the impact that Shakespeare intended.

You are directing a performance of “Julius Caesar”. How would you direct the actors and use stage craft to create the impact that Shakespeare intended.

Before I go into directing here is a brief introduction about the

Original style of play which Shakespeare wrote citizens. A far better public speaker than Brutus, Antony cleverly m. Brutus speaks before the citizens of Rome. He explains why Caesar had to be slain for the good of Rome. Then, Brutus leaves and Antony speaks to the crowd to turn them against the conspirators by telling them of Caesar's good works and his concern for the people, he proves this by reading Caesars will. He has left all his wealth to the people. As Antony stirs the citizens to pursue the assassins and kill them, he learns that Octavius has arrived in Rome and that Brutus and Cassius have fled.

I will set the story in a 1930’s gangster style film with the mayor of the New York just been killed and now they address the city from a stand at the top of a set of stairs which lead away from the town hall where they make the speech to the stunned crowd. To get the effect of him speaking to the crowd there will only be a few people in front of the stand and the rest of the crowd could be the audience giving the feel of that the speech is sent out on a larger scale rather than directed at only a small group of people where he would have to speak across the stage the conspirators would then leave the stage via a door on the background which would go into city hall. Then I would have Mark Antony come to the stage to the boos and jeers of the crowd. He would have to stand up tall and with confidence not being scared by the crowd.

At first he will speak with a lot of sorrow and sadness then he will begin to build up to a climax where he will eventually turn the crowd on the conspirators. At the end of his speech he learns that the General Octavius has entered Rome with a huge army and believes that he can use his army to crush the conspirators.

The actors I would use are ones which I think suit the certain part. I am going to show the type of person I would play the characters with famous Hollywood actors because they have easily identifiable styles of acting.

I would play Brutus as Hugo Weaving because of his clever mind and Brutus seems to be a good thinker and is a good planner. Brutus in this part of the play also seems as if his speech is all planned out. The way I imagine him to speak it is in a strong clear voice but not with much fire about it. I also think he would be good for this part is because you get the sense that he is very much respected in the way he acts his characters. He also needs to be able to show great character but little emotion when speaking to the people because he doesn’t regret what he has just done killing Caesar because he has done it for the good of Rome and he is a bit of a patriot.

Antony would need to be played by a very strong actor who is able to bring great emotion into his speech. For this I think somebody like Laurence Fishbourne because his is very emotional in the way he speaks and is able to convey it into his acting. In Antony he needs to be able to make his thoughts very heart felt and gradually getting stronger and stronger the more he gets into the speech starting of with a lot of sorrow and telling the people of Rome about all the good things Caesar was going to do for the people and telling them that he has left them his whole estate and money to the people by doing this he has got them on to his side and then he begins to stir the crowd into a frenzy to go after the conspirators because they have done an evil deed today and that Caesar was going to better Rome if he was still alive.

(The conspirators will enter the stage to address the crowd of citizens holding the jacket of Caesar and the weapon that was used)

CITIZENS. We will be satisfied; let us be satisfied.

BRUTUS. Then follow me, and give me audience, friends.--
Cassius, go you into the other street
And part the numbers.--
Those that will hear me speak, let 'em stay here;
Those that will follow Cassius, go with him;
And public reasons shall be rendered
Of Caesar's death.

(He will say this with little emotion in his voice and acting more like a politician.)

FIRST CITIZEN. I will hear Brutus speak.

SECOND CITIZEN. I will hear Cassius; and compare their reasons,
When severally we hear them rendered.

(Cassius climbs into a car and drives off been followed by a small group of citizens. Brutus climbs up to a raised rostrum to address the crowd. He will be flanked by armed men to protect him.)

THIRD CITIZEN. The noble Brutus is ascended: silence!

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THIRD CITIZEN. The noble Brutus is ascended: silence!

BRUTUS. Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers! Hear me for my cause; and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom; and awake your senses, that you may the better judge.
If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to
him I say that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his. If
then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is
my answer,--Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome
more. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than
that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen? As Caesar loved me, I
weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was
valiant, I honour him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew him.
There is tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his
valour; and death for his ambition. Who is here so base that
would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who
is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him
have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his
country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a
reply.

(Brutus’ voice won’t be full of sadness as if he had just someone he was fond of. He will speak as if he were addressing the senate or doing a speech to an important group of people.)

CITIZENS. None, Brutus, none.

BRUTUS. Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Caesar
than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is
enroll'd in the Capitol, his glory not extenuated, wherein he
was worthy;, nor his offenses enforced, for which he suffered
death.
(Antony and other members of the city hall will enter carrying Caesars body aloft.)
Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony, who, though he had
no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a
place in the commonwealth; as which of you shall not? With this
I depart-- that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I
have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country
to need my death.

(The citizens will begin to hail him and think he has done a good thing)

CITIZENS. Live, Brutus! live, live!

FIRST CITIZEN. Bring him with triumph home unto his house.

SECOND CITIZEN. Give him a statue with his ancestors.

THIRD CITIZEN. Let him be Caesar.

FOURTH CITIZEN Caesar's better parts
Shall be crown'd in Brutus.

FIRST CITIZEN. We'll bring him to his house with shouts and clamours.

BRUTUS. My countrymen,--

SECOND CITIZEN. Peace! silence! Brutus speaks.

FIRST CITIZEN. Peace, ho!

BRUTUS. Good countrymen, let me depart alone,
And, for my sake, stay here with Antony:
Do grace to Caesar's corpse, and grace his speech
Tending to Caesar's glory; which Mark Antony,
By our permission, is allow'd to make.
I do entreat you, not a man depart,
Save I alone, till Antony have spoke.

(He will say this in a jovial manor and climb into his car in high spirits.)

FIRST CITIZEN. Stay, ho! and let us hear Mark Antony.

THIRD CITIZEN. Let him go up into the public chair;
We'll hear him.--Noble Antony, go up.

ANTONY. For Brutus' sake, I am beholding to you.
(Antony steps up to the rostrum to address the citizen with great sadness in his face.)

FOURTH CITIZEN. What does he say of Brutus?

THIRD CITIZEN. He says, for Brutus' sake,
He finds himself beholding to us all.

FOURTH CITIZEN 'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here.

FIRST CITIZEN. This Caesar was a tyrant.

THIRD CITIZEN. Nay, that's certain:
We are blest that Rome is rid of him.

(I will get the Citizens to act angrily towards him.)

SECOND CITIZEN. Peace! let us hear what Antony can say.

ANTONY. You gentle Romans,--

CITIZENS. Peace, ho! let us hear him.

(The crowd will fall silent)

ANTONY. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones:
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault;
And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest,--
For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honorable men,--
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once,--not without cause:
What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him?--
O judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason!--Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.

FIRST CITIZEN. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.

SECOND CITIZEN. If thou consider rightly of the matter,
Caesar has had great wrong.

THIRD CITIZEN. Has he not, masters?
I fear there will a worse come in his place.

FOURTH CITIZEN. Mark'd ye his words? He would not take the crown;
Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious.

FIRST CITIZEN. If it be found so, some will dear abide it.

SECOND CITIZEN. Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire with weeping.

THIRD CITIZEN. There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony.

FOURTH CITIZEN. Now mark him; he begins again to speak.

(The citizens start to begin to see there error in there ways in what Brutus was saying.)

ANTONY. But yesterday the word of Caesar might
Have stood against the world: now lies he there,
And none so poor to do him reverence.
O masters, if I were disposed to stir
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
I should do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong,
Who, you all know, are honourable men:
I will not do them wrong; I rather choose
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself, and you,
Than I will wrong such honourable men.
But here's a parchment with the seal of Caesar,--
I found it in his closet,--'tis his will:
Let but the commons hear this testament,--
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read,--
And they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds,
And dip their napkins in his sacred blood;
Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,
And, dying, mention it within their wills,
Bequeathing it as a rich legacy
Unto their issue.

(This ploy played by Antony persuades the citizens to side with him)

FOURTH CITIZEN. We'll hear the will: read it, Mark Antony.

CITIZENS. The will, the will! We will hear Caesar's will.

ANTONY. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it;
It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you.
You are not wood, you are not stones, but men;
And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar,
It will inflame you, it will make you mad.
'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs;
For if you should, O, what would come of it!

(He will say these words in a very resistful way to get the people to beg him even more to build up a suspense.)

FOURTH CITIZEN. Read the will! we'll hear it, Antony;
You shall read us the will,--Caesar's will!

ANTONY. Will you be patient? will you stay awhile?
I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it:
I fear I wrong the honorable men
Whose daggers have stabb'd Caesar; I do fear it.

(Antony will say HONORABLE with great sarcasm to try and make the citizens feel wrong about there opinions and turn them to his side.)

FOURTH CITIZEN. They were traitors: honourable men!

CITIZENS. The will! The testament!

SECOND CITIZEN. They were villains, murderers. The will! read the will!

ANTONY. You will compel me, then, to read the will?
Then make a ring about the corpse of Caesar,
And let me show you him that made the will.
Shall I descend? and will you give me leave?

CITIZENS. Come down.

SECOND CITIZEN. Descend.
(Antony climbs down from the rostrum)

THIRD CITIZEN. You shall have leave.

FOURTH CITIZEN. A ring! stand round.

FIRST CITIZEN. Stand from the hearse, stand from the body.

SECOND CITIZEN. Room for Antony!--most noble Antony!

ANTONY. Nay, press not so upon me; stand far' off.

CITIZENS. Stand back; room! bear back.

ANTONY. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
You all do know this mantle: I remember
The first time ever Caesar put it on;
'Twas on a Summer's evening, in his tent,
That day he overcame the Nervii.
Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through:
See what a rent the envious Casca made:
Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd;
And as he pluck'd his cursed steel away,
Mark how the blood of Caesar follow'd it,--
As rushing out of doors, to be resolved
If Brutus so unkindly knock'd, or no;
For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel:
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him!
This was the most unkindest cut of all;
For when the noble Caesar saw him stab,
Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms,
Quite vanquish'd him: then burst his mighty heart;
And, in his mantle muffling up his face,
Even at the base of Pompey's statua,
Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell.
O, what a fall was there, my countrymen!
Then I, and you, and all of us fell down,
Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over us.
O, now you weep; and, I perceive, you feel
The dint of pity: these are gracious drops.
Kind souls, what, weep you when you but behold
Our Caesar's vesture wounded? Look you here,
Here is himself, marr'd, as you see, with traitors.

FIRST CITIZEN. O piteous spectacle!

SECOND CITIZEN. O noble Caesar!

THIRD CITIZEN. O woeful day!

FOURTH CITIZEN. O traitors, villains!

FIRST CITIZEN. O most bloody sight!

SECOND CITIZEN. We will be revenged.

CITIZENS. Revenge,--about,--seek,--burn,--fire,--kill,--slay,--let not a
traitor live!

ANTONY. Stay, countrymen.

FIRST CITIZEN. Peace there! hear the noble Antony.

SECOND CITIZEN. We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll die with him.

(This last quote is when you know that he finally turned him to his side.)

ANTONY. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up
To such a sudden flood of mutiny.
They that have done this deed are honourable:
What private griefs they have, alas, I know not,
That made them do it; they're wise and honourable,
And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you.
I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts:
I am no orator, as Brutus is;
But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man,
That love my friend; and that they know full well
That gave me public leave to speak of him:
For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,
Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech,
To stir men's blood: I only speak right on;
I tell you that which you yourselves do know;
Show you sweet Caesar's wounds, poor dumb mouths,
And bid them speak for me: but were I Brutus,
And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony
Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue
In every wound of Caesar, that should move
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.

CITIZENS. Peace, ho!

ANTONY. Moreover, he hath left you all his walks,
His private arbors, and new-planted orchards,
On this side Tiber: he hath left them you,
And to your heirs forever; common pleasures,
To walk abroad, and recreate yourselves.
Here was a Caesar! when comes such another?

(The crowd will now be in a frenzy and Antony will be speaking with such passion.)

FIRST CITIZEN. Never, never.--Come, away, away!
We'll burn his body in the holy place,
And with the brands fire the traitors' houses.
Take up the body.

SECOND CITIZEN. Go, fetch fire.

THIRD CITIZEN. Pluck down benches.

FOURTH CITIZEN. Pluck down forms, windows, any thing.

[Exeunt Citizens, with the body.]

ANTONY. Now let it work.--Mischief, thou art afoot,
Take thou what course thou wilt!--
(One of the people standing next to Antony comes to the rostrum.)

How now, fellow?

SERVANT. Sir, Octavius is already come to Rome.

ANTONY. Where is he?

SERVANT. He and Lepidus are at Caesar's house.

ANTONY. And thither will I straight to visit him:
He comes upon a wish. Fortune is merry,
And in this mood will give us any thing.

SERVANT. I heard 'em say Brutus and Cassius
Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome.

ANTONY. Belike they had some notice of the people,
How I had moved them. Bring me to Octavius.
(The servant will again return into the crowd of people behind him. Antony will now become calm again and turns to the crowd.)

CITIZENS. We'll mutiny.

FIRST CITIZEN. We'll burn the house of Brutus.

THIRD CITIZEN. Away, then! come, seek the conspirators.

ANTONY. Yet hear me, countrymen; yet hear me speak.

CITIZENS. Peace, ho! hear Antony; most noble Antony!

ANTONY. Why, friends, you go to do you know not what.
Wherein hath Caesar thus deserved your loves?
Alas, you know not; I must tell you then:
You have forgot the will I told you of.

CITIZENS. Most true; the will!--let's stay, and hear the will.

ANTONY. Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal.
To every Roman citizen he gives,
To every several man, seventy-five drachmas.

SECOND CITIZEN. Most noble Caesar!--we'll revenge his death.

THIRD CITIZEN. O, royal Caesar!

ANTONY. Hear me with patience.

CITIZENS. Peace, ho!

FIRST CITIZEN. Never, never.--Come, away, away!
We'll burn his body in the holy place,
And with the brands fire the traitors' houses.
Take up the body.

SECOND CITIZEN. Go, fetch fire.

THIRD CITIZEN. Pluck down benches.

FOURTH CITIZEN. Pluck down forms, windows, any thing.

(The crowd of citizens departs from the scene climbing into there vehicles and going after the conspirators)

ANTONY. Now let it work.--Mischief, thou art afoot,
Take thou what course thou wilt!--
(Antony’s servant returns to his side)
How now, fellow?

SERVANT. Sir, Octavius is already come to Rome.

ANTONY. Where is he?

SERVANT. He and Lepidus are at Caesar's house.

ANTONY. And thither will I straight to visit him:
He comes upon a wish. Fortune is merry,
And in this mood will give us any thing.

SERVANT. I heard 'em say Brutus and Cassius
Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome.

ANTONY. Belike they had some notice of the people,
How I had moved them. Bring me to Octavius.
(Antony climbs into a car and drives away)

You are directing a performance of "Julius Caesar". How would you direct the actors and use stage craft to create the impact that Shakespeare intended.

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