Raise your hand if you studied Julius Caesar in high school.

Now, raise your hand if when you studied Julius Caesar in high school you found it mind-numbing and boring. If ever one of William Shakespeare's plays cried out to be seen on the stage rather than read on the page it's Julius Caesar. Yes, it contains some of the most beautiful speeches that Shakespeare ever wrote. The use of rhetoric and phrasing to make political and linguistic points is masterful. On the page, Julius Caesar can feel stilted with many a Roman character, Publican and Plebeian to keep straight. The American Shakespeare Center's inaugural production of its ninth Actors' Renaissance Season proves that a dynamic and clear production that emphasizes not only the language but the heart and soul of its characters is the best way to bring Julius Caesar alive for a twenty-first century audience.

For nine seasons now, the American Shakespeare Center has presented a winter season that gives their talented acting troupe the opportunity to immerse themselves in the rehearsal conditions of William Shakespeare's time. There are no directors or designers. The actors themselves are responsible for choosing costumes and props from existing stock. The rehearsal process is reduced to a matter of days. The result is lively theater that energizes both the actors and the audience. Julius Caesar becomes a brisk two hours traffic upon the stage that uses the Renaissance staging conditions of the Blackfriars Playhouse to create a dynamic theatrical experience.

Having the actors choose their own costumes occasionally creates a not quite cohesive stage picture. Here the audience will find a mixture of contemporary dress with a bit of togas and tunics sprinkled about. However, there are good choices of color to help the audience keep track of certain groups. Caesar, his wife and two senators are in white. Brutus, Cassius and the conspirators in black and grey. The common folk at Caesar's funeral don workman's denim blue. Mark Antony wears a military uniform that hints at the revolutionary Che Guevara, man of the common people.

Julius Caesar, drawn from Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, is really the tale of three men Brutus, Cassius and Antony. Julius Caesar, the title character, is a larger than life presence whose rise to dictator and subsequent assassination indelibly affects them all. Benjamin Curns commands the stage as Caesar in his brief scenes. His Caesar is the consummate politician combined with a bit of mob boss polished off with a touch of rock star for good measure. When he dies, it is not just Shakespeare's language that keeps Caesar indelibly near the center of the story, but the memory of Mr. Curns' charismatic dictator.

The true central character of the play is the noble Marcus Brutus. René Thornton, Jr.'s Brutus begins as a close ally of Caesar, yet he is clearly troubled by the demise of the Roman Republic. The play's emotional arc centers on Brutus as he is reluctantly persuaded to take a crucial role in Caesar's assassination. Mr. Thornton's embrace of Brutus' conflicts as he is first convinced that murdering Caesar is for Rome's greater good and then transitions to confident orator at the funeral attempting to control the reaction of the ordinary people is quite masterful. Throughout Brutus' fall from grace Mr. Thornton manages to keep Brutus a sympathetic character, truly worthy of Antony's eulogy as the noblest Roman of them all.

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