THE Royal Shakespeare Company is bringing its landmark all-female production of Julius Caesar to a Bradford school for a week-long residency, with Dame Harriet Walter leading the cast.
Dixons Cottingley Academy is an RSC Associate School, working in partnership with the company and Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre, using Shakespeare’s plays to unlock potential in young people.
Next week the RSC, with KPPL Productions, will bring Phyllida Lloyd’s production of Julius Caesar to the Cottingley school as part of a five-week tour of partner schools and communities across England.
Led by Olivier Award-winning actor Dame Harriet Walter as Brutus, the production takes up residence at Dixons Cottingley Academy from October 5-9, presenting performances for students alongside a programme of workshops, discussions, curriculum activity and opportunities for young people to gain practical insight into careers in theatre. The programme will explore the play’s themes of power, justice and responsibility.
Dame Harriet Walter leads the cast.
A limited number of community performances will take place on Monday, October 5 and Thursday, October 8 at 6pm.
Ancient Rome is brought to the stage as a group of female ‘prisoners’ present a 90-minute version of Julius Caesar. Say producers: “By acting out this story of leadership, control and corruption, their own fights for freedom and justice, and the power politics of prison life, come into harsh focus.”
Caesar’s growing dominance in Rome places democracy at risk. A group of conspirators recruits popular senator Brutus to help assassinate Caesar and reclaim the republic. But as terror and chaos take hold, Shakespeare’s politically charged play exposes how the violent overthrow of a tyrant rarely leads to a peaceful outcome.
The production was first staged in 2012, opening Phyllida Lloyd’s all-female Shakespeare Trilogy. Subsequently presented in London, New York, prisons and schools, it was described by The Observer as “one of the most important theatrical events of the past 20 years”.
The new touring production forms part of the RSC’s First Encounters with Shakespeare programme, creating edited versions of Shakespeare plays for young people who may be encountering his work in performance for the first time.
During the Bradford residency, teachers from different subject areas will adapt lessons to connect with the production’s themes. Workshops will take place with the school’s Young Leaders around the theme of Criminal Justice and with BTEC Drama students.
Leah Harvey as Mark Anthony and the company of the all-female production. Images: Helen Maybanks
Members of the company will take part in workshops, debates, career talks and conversations with students about the play’s contemporary relevance and how young people might use their own voices to create change in their communities. Some students will have the opportunity to shadow the production team, offering hands-on insight into backstage and technical careers.
Students will also take part in an in-depth exploration of the production with RSC practitioners and the company.
Young Creatives will explore aspects of the play that feel most relevant to them; their work will be shared at a Young Creatives Festival at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, in November. Curated by the RSC’s Youth Advisory Board, the festival brings together 200 young people from the tour to share creative work responding to the production.
The October 8 performance will be followed by a conversation bringing together company members, audiences and invited speakers from the local community and criminal justice system asking: how can we support those whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system, including families whose time together has been limited?
Deputy Executive Director and Director of Creative Learning and Engagement, Jacqui O’Hanlon says: “We are incredibly proud of the work we have undertaken in collaboration with extraordinary teachers, young people and partner theatres over the past 20 years. They have irrevocably changed our understanding of the value of Shakespeare’s work in education. We now have a 20-year evidence base that describes the very real difference that an arts rich education makes to a child’s life and learning outcomes. All children should have this entitlement, but all children don’t. Where a child lives and the kind of school they go to is still the greatest predictor of whether they will get access to high quality arts experiences, with all the benefits they bring. We hope that in the next 20 years, that argument will be won and all children, irrespective of background, will have equal access to the arts; they will ultimately shape and define the future of the arts and Shakespeare’s work in this country.”
Darcy Dixon as Lucius.
The production renews a collaboration with Criminal Justice Associate Artist Rachel Frank and women from HMP New Hall, to ensure that the production’s prison setting is rooted in lived experience. The company worked with the HMP New Hall drama group ahead of the tour.
Says Director Phyllida Lloyd: “Our pledge with Harriet to take Julius Caesar into schools marks our belief that young people deserve world-class theatre - the best of the best. When we first produced Julius Caesar in 2012, the world was a different place. Many themes we explored - unheard women’s voices, the pressures on young men and the manipulating power of social media - seem ever more in need of attention. If there is a play for today, to travel the country and inspire the young voices of the future, this is the one.
Members of the cast in rehearsal. (Image: Helen Maybanks)
“This co-production brings together a remarkable cast of actors led by Dame Harriet Walter, a group of women in HMP New Hall and young people in schools. Our mission is to use Julius Caesar to inspire unheard voices to ring out and create change - each of us students of the other.”
- For tickets for community performances go to eventbrite.co.uk