Julius Caesar – Brighton Open Air Theatre

Written by: William Shakespeare

Performed by: Oddsocks Productions

The quintessentially English phenomenon of Shakespeare in the park can often be ruined by the equally quintessential English phenomenon of bad weather. Thankfully, tonight’s performance of Julius Caesar by Oddsocks Productions at Brighton Open Air Theatre is blessed with balmy temperatures and blue skies. Of course, it takes more than good weather to make a good production, and Oddsocks, celebrating their 35th year of treading the boards of open air stages, clearly have a firm grasp of how to achieve such a thing. In what is one of Shakespeare’s most po-faced tragedies they use every trick in the book to create an adaptation that is so uproarious you’d be forgiven for thinking it was one of the Bard’s light comedies.

The play’s foundation of political intrigue gives it a resonance that feels particularly apt tonight, so soon after the machinations and scandals of a general election. One of the company’s strengths is their ability to weave current references into their fourth wall-breaking asides. A line about how rare honourable politicians are…unless you’re in Brighton, that is, gets the Green Party fans on their side. One of the conspirators mulls over the idea of putting a bet on the murder he knows is about to happen, in a nod to the Tory election betting scandal, and even Joe Biden is implicated along the way. On their own, these jokes might appear facile but they make up just a part of Oddsocks’ gleefully irreverent approach to Shakespeare.

Caesar himself is played by Cameron Robertson as an oblivious, petulant loudmouth, who doesn’t do himself many favours, ignoring both the soothsayer’s “Ides of March” warning and his wife Calpurnia’s (Elli Mackenzie) entreaties to stay at home. The conspirators are as devious as they are camp. Marcus Brutus, played with perfect comedic timing and slapstick stage presence by Oddsocks co-founder Andy Barrow, is petitioned by the others to join them in their murder plot. Channelling the exaggerated pomposity of a Blackadder prince, Caius Cassius (Mark Peachey) leads the scheme, wringing the humour out of every line as he goes. The straight man of the piece is Mark Anthony (Matthew Christmas). He remains loyal to Caesar, persuading the people of Rome with his oratorical skills (“Friends, Romans, Countrymen…etc.”) to oust the murderers.

Though there are moments where the power of the words and the seriousness of the drama peek through, pretty much everything is played for laughs. Each actor has honed the skill of physical buffoonery to an art. No opportunity for innuendo is missed, there are plenty of sallies into the audience to pinch olives or heckle the other actors, and even the deaths are extended comedic flights of fancy. There is a great deal of joy in the performance and it’s exactly what the people are here for. It’s the transgression of besmirching great art, but it’s also a dynamic central to the travelling theatre troupe tradition of Shakespeare’s day, where entertaining the masses was paramount.

As well as the five human actors, there are two human-size puppets who bulk out the conspirators. They are beautifully made bulbous additions to the group of Romans. In a play where it’s important to feel the presence of a mob of people, Oddsocks find canny ways of expanding their numbers. At the beginning of the warmongering part two, actors sit alongside us, agreeing with the speakers, being rowdy, chanting, and it’s hard not to join in. Though the second half lacks the narrative propulsion of the first, it doesn’t really matter, because everyone is having too much fun to notice.

Runs until 20 July 2024