Julius Caesar • 2013 - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

ON YOUR OWN
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Comic Relief
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it was common to rewrite Shakespeare’s tragedies to achieve various
effects. Now that you have seen Julius Caesar in performance, imagine that you are a playwright hired by an
acting company to write comic scenes for this play. Where might a comic scene occur? What kind of character
would be appropriate to the play? In Jonathan Munby’s production, did any performances surprise you as comic
elements that you hadn’t expected? Imagine a comic character for Julius Caesar and write your own brief scene:
include where it occurs in the text. Act it out, including the last lines of the scenes directly before and directly after
it. Was it successful? (You might want to refer back to the scene between Peter and the Musicians in Romeo and
Juliet 4.5.100-138, or the Gravediggers’ scene in Hamlet 5.1.1-65 to see how Shakespeare handles comedy—
even in his great tragedies.) CONSIDER COMMON CORE ANCHOR STANDARDS R9, W3
Write Back to Us!
Write a letter to Chicago Shakespeare Theater expressing your opinions about the production. (We love reading
them!) What was your favorite part? What part, if any, didn’t you like? Tell us your responses:
✪ Did seeing the play performed change your ideas about any of the characters or scenes?
✪ How close was Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production design to your own vision of the play? What
would you have changed?
✪ Was there any point during the performance at which the sound design particularly affected you—or distracted
you? What kind of mood did it create?
✪ What moment, scene, element, or character was most interesting to you in the production and why?
Based on the production you just saw, what do you think this director and her cast were most interested in expressing
about Julius Caesar? CONSIDER COMMON CORE ANCHOR STANDARDS R2, W4
A Critical Eye
You are a drama critic for the Chicago Tribune. Look at some real theater reviews online or in the newspaper
to get some ideas. Briefly recount the plot. Discuss the parts of the production—including the casting, acting,
setting, lights, music, costumes, cuts you particularly liked or did not like, and explain how you did or did not
think each worked to tell the story.. How easy/difficult was it to understand the language? How much did you
“believe” what was happening? (These are good clues to a production’s strengths or weaknesses.) CONSIDER
COMMON CORE ANCHOR STANDARDS R2, R9, W3
89 Madmen
Design a newspaper ad advertising Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Julius Caesar. Remember that you must
characterize the play and attract a large audience in just a few words and images. What visual image from the
play would you choose to capture the play’s essence? Are there any particular quotes from the play you would
use to grab people’s interest? Choose a few key words to incorporate into the ad to evoke the mood of the
production. Compare your ideas with the ads that appear in the Friday “Arts” section of the Tribune. What are
the strengths of each? How do they work differently? CONSIDER COMMON CORE ANCHOR STANDARDS W2, W9
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