Today’s Date: 7/10/23

Show Title: JULIUS CAESAR

Director: Natasia Reinhardt

Staff Crew: Assistant Directors: Cole Metz and Liv Meredith. Dramaturg: Eli Dietrich. Stage Manager: Lillian Malone.

What we did

Costume partay! Today we finally were back in the playhouse, and we interns (Lilli Malone and I) saw to it that every cast member got costumes ready and fit. With only a couple of exceptions and edits needing to be made, the whole cast is looking stunning in preparation for our dress rehearsal tomorrow. While we did costumes, Natasia continued to block more of the play. We were able to fully run the “Friends, Romans, countrymen” speech again, which is now looking pretty great with JD’s Mark Antony fully costumed (see “from the cast”). We ran through Caesar’s ghost’s appearance and costumed the ghost in some spooky stuff (that you have to come to the show to see). Finally, we ended with Cassius’ (Pheonix) death scene. Next was the second triumvirate (James, JD, and Zyir) scene on the balcony, which looks really good. Going from there, we also ran Brutus’ (Isabella P.) and Cassius’ (Pheonix) verbal battle, which I think may be one of my favorite scenes in the play. It is great to see these wonderful thespians really engage with their characters. 

We ran through many other scenes and got nearly to the end of the show before we had to break for a fight instruction. Fight class with Kaley today was building our fight call. Fight call is the practice of each fight that happens in the show in order. Each cast is expected to run a fight call before any run of the show to ensure that everything is safe for the full run. Dually, during the fight call, we polished some of the scenes up (see “from the director”). 

Quick and Quotable

• From the play “a sleepy tune” comes from the scene where Caesar’s ghost appears to Brutus. Brutus has asked his attendant, Lucius, to play a song. Yet, unbeknownst to him, Lucius has fallen to sleep, and he is about to be visited by his immortalized frenemy. 

• From the director Natasia worked with Kaley today on Cinna the Poet’s (Hattie) death. I came up from costuming just in time to see this scene, and it is a chilling performance. Much of the time, it is hard to simulate mob violence, yet Natasia and Kaley have been working tirelessly on methods to create said violence and make it look clean and simple while also horrific. 

• From the cast JD’s costume for Mark Antony is my personal favorite one. This, of course, is more of a brag than any critique of the other costumes. Audiences, family, friends, and countrymen will be stunned by the two pieces of Roman armor that fit perfectly with one another. 

Production Insights 

Today was a tiring day for us all. This is due to the showcase going so well yesterday! All the campers are pushing through the last week of camp and doing so with the conviction needed to make this play great. I have said it before, but will reiterate; camp is a place of guaranteed safety. Yet, safety does not mean a lack of difficulty. While we understand camp is a challenging environment, it is important to push through. I know that during my year at camp, there were times of stress, sadness, and fatigue. However, by the time it was over, I was itching to get back into it. Each and every camper is fantastic at what they do, and I have no doubt they will feel the same itch to return to theater’s revolving door of stress and gratification.