Julius Caesar all-female production impresses critics

One critic described the play as "witty, liberating and inventive."

12:36 08 December 2012

Phyllida Lloyd’s Julius Caesar all-female production in Donmar Warehouse has successfully impressed several critics. The play-within-play, which features heavy metal guitars and CCTV, was performed on an austere metallic set.

The cast includes Frances Barber as Caesar, Harriet Walter as Brutus, and Jenny Jules as Cassius.

Critics were obviously impressed with the play. The Guardian’s Michael Billington described it as "witty, liberating and inventive."

He said: “It is one thing to have an ingenious concept, another to carry it out. And Lloyd's production proves that female actors can bring a fresh perspective to traditionally male roles.”

 

Henry Hitchings of Evening Standard on the other hand seemed to love all the aspect of the said play. He said: “It's not just the casting that makes it feel daring. There's also a crazed, percussive intensity, and the production abounds with weirdness, thuggery and horror.”

 

He added: “Frances Barber is a viciously bullying Caesar, an arbitrary tyrant who in her beret and leather trenchcoat looks like someone you might find in a spy film loitering seedily in a railway arch. Harriet Walter's austere Brutus is a performance of riveting intricacy.”

 

Julius Caesar is at the Donmar Warehouse until February 9th, 2013.