The new Bridge Theatre near Tower Bridge in London has launched to great acclaim much arising from Nicholas Hytner's reputation built so successfully at the National Theatre just a short distance away along the South Bank. For those who can't get tickets for the theatre, NT Live enables anyone in the country the chance to see these productions from the comfort of their local cinema. The latest offering, broadcast on Thursday 22nd March, was Hytner's production of Julius Caesar which has run at the Bridge since 20th January. The challenge with the broadcast was how to translate an immersive promenade performance to the big screen.
Julius Caesar was written by Shakespeare in 1599, set in 44BC and structured over five acts in streets of Rome and plains of Philippi with a mainly male characters. Hytner has worked with the amazing designer Bunny Christie to update the location to a modern republic with pistols and barbed wire and changed the gender of key role of Caius Cassius to rebalance gender mix of play. The central characters Caesar, Mark Antony and Marcus Brutus are well known historical figures and the basic plot is very familiar but the updating works and gives the production a fresh modern feel. This version runs for two hours fifteen minutes without an interval.
