January 25 - June 8

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“Beware the Ides of March” – Act I, Scene 2

Hail Caesar, home from the wars…what darker fate awaits him? Suspicion, conspiracy and power lust boil up in a rush to murder in Shakespeare’s gripping political drama. As friendships are sundered and loyalties tested, guilt pursues the killers to their dark ends. “O judgement! thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason…”

This show will be ensemble-directed as an ASC Artists’ Renaissance production.

Run time: 2 hours 20 minutes including one 15-minute intermission

Age requirement: 7 and up (read full policies here)

Read more about our Staging Conditions and Casting Practices here.

“The American Shakespeare Center’s new production of Julius Caesar is a fresh take, and a welcome one, on a classic political drama…This Julius Caesar is a timely reminder of how recklessness and greed can destroy things. For Shakespeare, the path to the Roman Empire may have seemed inevitable; he could mourn the loss of Brutus, but shrug at the implications of what came next. We who value our Republic can come away from this play with a great deal more.”

– Andrew Walker White, DC Theater Arts

Read the DC Theater Arts Review

Gallery

Kenn Hopkins, Jr. Photo by October Grace Media.

Joe Mucciolo and Annabelle Rollison. Photo by October Grace Media.

Annabelle Rollison and Philip Orazio. Photo by October Grace Media.

Aidan O'Reilly and the cast of Julius Caesar. Photo by October Grace Media.

Corrie Green and Aidan O'Reilly. Photo by October Grace Media.

Sarah Fallon and Kenn Hopkins, Jr. Photo by October Grace Media.

Kenn Hopkins, Jr. and Sarah Fallon. Photo by October Grace Media.

Philip Orazio and Aidan O'Reilly. Photo by October Grace Media.

Natasia Lucia Reinhardt. Photo by October Grace Media.

Philip Orazio and Summer England. Photo by October Grace Media.

Learn More About The Show

Stuff That Happens

Before the Play

  • Caesar wins great victories in Gaul. His spoils of war enrich him and the city of Rome, making him wildly popular with the common people.
  • With accusations of waging illegal war, Pompey’s political faction demands that Caesar return to Rome to face trial.
  • Caesar returns—with an army. He defeats Pompey, who is murdered after fleeing to Egypt.

During the Play

  • Caesar arrives in Rome to great fanfare from the common people, much to the horror of Pompey’s surviving supporters. A soothsayer warns him to “beware the ides of March.”
  • Caesar’s growing popularity spurs a conspiracy among the late Pompey’s followers, senators, and others who fear the people will make Caesar a king, overturning the republic.
  • On a stormy night, Cassius and the other conspirators convince Brutus to join their cause. They resolve to kill Caesar when the senate meets at the Capitol the next day.
  • In the Capitol, one of the conspirators distracts Mark Antony, a steadfast Caesar supporter, while the rest of the faction stab Caesar.
  • Antony, claiming not to seek revenge on the conspirators, asks for permission to speak at Caesar’s funeral. Despite protests from Cassius, Brutus agrees.
  • After Brutus defends the conspirators’ actions to the common people, Antony incites the crowd against them all. The conspirators flee Rome.
  • Antony joins forces with Octavius Caesar (Caesar’s nephew and acknowledged heir) to battle Brutus and Cassius.
  • Civil war, ghostly visitations, and a really bad birthday ensue.