A Dramaturgical Analysis by Elizabeth Debes
The goal of this website is to document the process in which I collected and distributed historical analyses and important information to the actors of UMW Theatre's Julius Caesar. In the following tabs, there are guides to the play itself, historical context regarding the production and setting of the play, and the dramaturgical process that I completed while working on the show. Julius Caesar has been done hundreds of ways, with political tensions at the time of the production playing a role in the themes emphasized on stage. Researching the play and connecting the actors to the history and themes of the play proved to be exciting, and the questions raised during rehearsal were thought-provoking and insightful to the world of the play.
Below, there are a series of images from past performances of Julius Caesar, and issues of the time are often brought up on stage as a facet of the production. From Donald Trump to women's prisons, modern productions of Julius Caesar use the motifs of the play to show current system issues. When studying this play, the connection between Elizabethan England and Cesarian Rome is all too clear, but the connection to the modern era is also evident in the issues faced by the characters of the play. The play raises the question of rhetoric and power, tyranny, honor, and inflexibility in the face of obstacles, all themes that are relevant to a modern audience. Working on Julius Caesar, the actors found ways to relate to the themes and utilized the historical information and guides presented to look at the play in a different light.