Julius Caesar • 2013 - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

THE STORY
All Rome takes to the streets
in celebration: the great
general Julius Caesar returns
triumphant from his victory over
Pompey. In a republic where no man
may reign, the Senate now moves to
place a crown on Caesar’s head. But
to those who fear a ruler’s absolute
power, the lifeblood of their republic,
they say, rests upon the death of this one man. Led by Cassius,
the men conspire to assassinate Caesar before he can
be proclaimed king. Requiring the support of a high-minded
colleague like Brutus to lend respectability to their plot, it is left
to Cassius to persuade his friend and ally to their side.
Caesar dismisses the nightmares of his wife and the prophecies
of a soothsayer, and ventures out to the Senate. It is the
Ides of March. Soon the great Caesar, conqueror of a vast
empire, will lie silenced in his blood, surrounded by his murderers—the
senators of Rome.
Brutus explains the necessity for Caesar's death to a bewildered
crowd, calmed until Caesar's ally, Antony, with passionate
words transforms them from frightened fragments into a
murderous mob. Forced to flee Rome, Brutus and Cassius
gather armies. Octavius, Caesar's nephew and heir, alongside
Antony takes control of Rome, and together they plan the execution
of all who threaten their power. It will be at Philippi that
Brutus faces the spirit of Caesar--and Rome, its fate. ✪
JULIUS CAESAR
ACT-BY-ACT SYNOPSIS
Act 1
Flavius and Marullus break up
a crowd of commoners celebrating
the victory of Julius
Caesar, who has returned to Rome
from a civil war fought against his coruler,
Pompey. The two officials shame
the people for celebrating the defeat of one Roman by another,
and tear down the decorations honoring Caesar. Attending a
race in celebration of the Roman Holiday Lupercalia, Caesar
asks his friend Marc Antony to touch his wife Calphurnia as
he runs by in the race. (Roman tradition held that a woman’s
pregnancy was assured by the touch of a runner in the race–
and Caesar had no heir.) A Soothsayer approaches Caesar
and warns him to “beware the Ides of March”—the fifteenth day
of March. Caesar ignores him and continues on to the festival.
Two senators, Cassius and Brutus, stay behind, discussing
how they fear that Caesar wants to rule Rome single-handedly.
Cassius tells Brutus that the people are looking to him for leadership.
They hear cheers, and fear the populace is cheering
in support of Caesar as their king. Cassius reminds Brutus
of the revolt that founded the Republic—led by Brutus’s own
ancestor—in hopes of coaxing Brutus to join the conspirators’
cause against Caesar’s rule. Brutus admits to having a similar
plan in mind. Casca, another Roman senator, joins them and
reports that Caesar was indeed offered a crown three times,
but declined it each time. Left by himself, Cassius reveals that
he believes Brutus to be easy to manipulate, and plans to convince
him to rise up against Caesar by sending Brutus forged
letters, supposedly from angry citizens urging him to take action
against Caesar. Cassius convinces Casca to join the conspirators,
and they plan to meet later in secret to discuss the
plot. Cassius instructs Cinna, a fellow conspirator, to leave the
forged letters for Brutus.
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