If politics has taught us anything, it is that betrayal is act best served behind your leader’s back.
Julia ceased her current political grip as such, while it’s how Julius Caesar originally lost his.
‘I guess it’s the kind of archetypal story of political machinations and… I don’t want to say betrayal… but it is the most famous example of political assassination,’ actor James Wardlaw recently told OUTinPerth.
Wardlaw is preparing to appear in Bell Shakespeare’s latest production, a stripped back rendition of Julius Ceasar, the historical moment as Shakespearian play responsible for the phrase “back-stabbing†being retained in our modern lexicon.
‘It’s a play about high ideals and low acts. And I guess that’s the thing about politics: how many compromises can you make before you’ve destroyed the ideal you’re standing up for.’
And while the most recent parallel between Brutus’ betrayal of Julius Caesar is what happened between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd, director Peter Evan has avoided reducing the play to just being about that.
Instead it presents a sharp suited set adorned with Roman columns, sparse yet suggestive. Here, Wardlaw and his fellow actors delve into the morality of one of history’s – and Shakespeare’s – most famous tales.
‘It asks whether it’s possible to walk a pure moral path in the world,’ Wardlaw concluded, and indeed, watching the current state of politics one wonders if the same is true there.
Julius Caesar opens at the State Theatre from August 17 to 20 for strictly five performances only. Tickets are available now through BOCS. www.bocsticketing.com.au
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
***
