HERN
R
HOMEMADE
Do-it-yourself is the costume theme for the cast of
Julius Caesar as the cast dons items out of their closets
BY HAIDE HERNANDEZ / el Don
C
armen Munoz, who
plays Julius Caesar in
the gender-bending
adaptation, will look more like
a president than an emperor
on opening night.
The Theatre Department
ditched the Ancient Romans’
trademark togas and tanned
goatskin sandals in favor of
denim jeans and shirts direct-
ly from the closets of the cast.
Budget restraints and the
modernizing of William
Shakespeare’s tragedy fostered the department’s do-ityourself approach.
Instead of renting costumes,
or tailoring elaborate designs,
the actors will be wearing
street clothes. The student
actors are also doing their
own hair and makeup.
BRUTUS / Danny Gonzalez
HAILHISTORY
The tragedy portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against the Roman dictator, his
assassination and the defeat of the conspirators at the Battle of Philippi.
BY MATTHEW SALZER / el Don
T
he Theatre Department’s version of
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is significant because it switches gender roles
of the characters while modernizing the
setting, English professor and Shakespearean expert Kathy Patterson said.
“I wanted to explore what would happen if
we — America — were in the same situation
as Rome during the time of Julius Caesar,”
said Chris Cannon, director and assistant
drama professor.
The play is thought to be one of the first
performed in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
in London around the early 1600s.
After a brief revival during the same cen-
tury, it went unperformed for almost two
centuries, Cannon said.
Actor and later Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth appeared in a rendition in 1864
during a tumultuous time in U.S history that
coincided with the revival of the drama,
according to Patterson.
Wardrobe in a 1937 Orson Wells-produced
performance was reminiscent of the Nazi
German and Fascist Italy uniforms, and in
a later version Denzel Washington played
Brutus. Marlon Brando played Marc Antony
in a 1953 theatrical release, while three
notable made-for-TV adaptations were
released between the 1970s and 2012, the
last by the Royal Shakespeare Company and
broadcast on BBC, Cannon said.
O
ishame
ack
cast
or of
a madio.
FROM LEFT / Christian Sanchez playing Casca, Carmen Munoz as Caesar, Amy Smith playing Marc Antony, Brittany Gamboa as a plebian and Ken Smith playing a senator.
el Don /SANTA ANA COLLEGE • MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014/eldonnews.org
ANT
STYLE
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