A spokesperson describes the plot: “Conspiracy to kill, public broadcast of cunning rhetoric, a divisive fight for Greatness. Ancient Rome has never felt closer.
“When Cassius and Brutus decide Rome’s leader Julius Caesar poses a political threat to their beloved country, there’s only one solution…”
Directed by award-winning director, Diane Page, winner of the 2021 JMK Award, this new production of Julius Caesar aims to bring Shakespeare’s brutal tale of ambition, incursion, and revolution to life with startling relevance to modern day.
Director Diane Page says: “I’m so excited to bring my production of Julius Caesar straight from the Globe Theatre in London to tour across the UK. These past few years have revealed more than ever how betrayal, division, and cunning rhetoric are not just traits belonging to Ancient Rome. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar will be on the road this summer and I look forward to visiting these fantastic venues.”
Diane Page won the JMK Award in 2021 for Statements after an Arrest under the Immorality Act (Orange Tree Theatre).
She returns to the Globe after assistant directing Bartholomew Fair, 2019. Her previous directing work includes Out West, In Love and Loyalty (Lyric Hammersmith) and Ghost Stories (Associate Director West End and Tour). Julius Caesar is designed by Khadija Raza with Jesse Haughton-Shaw as Dramaturg and Indiana Lown Collins as Assistant Director.
The Cast:
Charlotte Bate will play Cassius. Charlotte’s previous theatre credits include: I Think We Are Alone (Frantic Assembly), On The Other Hand We’re Happy, Daughterhood, Dexter and Winter’s Detective Agency (Paines Plough / Theatre Royal Stratford East), The Rivals (The Watermill Theatre), Blackthorn (West Yorkshire Playhouse / Paines Plough), King Lear (The Orange Tree Theatre), Watership Down (Watermill Theatre), and Romeo and Juliet (Sheffield Crucible). Screen credits include: The Sandman (Netflix/ Warner Bros.), Casualty (BBC), White House Farm (NPX/ITV) and Electric Dreams (Channel 4/Amazon)
Omar Bynon will play Decius / Soothsayer. Omar’s previous theatre credits include: 2036: Pawn (Bush Theatre), Heartfelt, and Poets Manifesto (Theatre Royal Stratford East). Omar is a recipient of the Evening Standard Future Theatre Fund 2020.
Anna Crichlow will play Brutus. Anna recently performed at Shakespeare’s Globe in the 2021 Globe on Tour productions of As You Like It, The Tempest, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other theatre credits include: The Last Noel (Attic Theatre Company / Arts at the Old Fire Station), The Worst Witch (Royal & Derngate), Confidence (Southwark Playhouse), Common (National Theatre), and Pride & Prejudice (Regents Park Open Air Theatre).
Amie Francis will play Calpurnia. Amie’s previous theatre credits include: Paradise (National Theatre). Screen credits include: Casualty, The Hour (BBC), Roadkill (The Forge Entertainment), and Save Me Too (World Productions).
Cash Holland will play Portia / Murellus. Cash has previously performed in Homos or Everyone in America (Finborough Theatre). Screen and Radio credits include: Out of her Mind (Stolen Pictures / BBC 2) and Between Two Places (Dora Productions / BBC Radio 4).
Jack Myers will play Caska / Octavius. Jack’s previous theatre credits include: South Downs (Chichester Festival Theatre), and Macbeth (Young Shakespeare Company). Screen credits include: Call The Midwife (BBC), White Lines, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (Netflix), and Breeders (Sky). Radio credits include: South Downs (Radio 4), Doctor Who: The Ultimate Evil (Big Finish). Jack will soon be seen in the upcoming Starz series Dangerous Liaisons and Apple TV series Masters of the Air.
Samuel Oatley will play Mark Antony. Sam has previously performed at Shakespeare’s Globe in Macbeth (2020) and covered for a variety of roles during the 2021/22 Summer and Winter season productions of The Merchant of Venice, Romeo & Juliet and Twelfth Night. Other theatre credits include: Any Means Necessary (Nottingham Playhouse), Richard III (York Theatre Royal / Nottingham Playhouse), King Lear (Theatre Royal Bath), and Incarcerator (Old Red Lion). Screen credits include: Strike: Troubled Blood, Strike: Lethal White (BBC / HBO Max), Doctor Who, Casualty, Taming of the Shrew, Small Axe (BBC), Man Down (Avalon), Witless (Objective Productions), Law and Order, Pickles, Bad Girls, Foyle’s War (ITV), Midsomer Murders (Bentley Productions), and Cursed (Netflix).
Dickon Tyrrell will play Julius Caesar. Dickon is one of the Globe’s Higher Education Consultants and a fellow of the RSA. Previous work for Shakespeare’s Globe includes: Macbeth (2020), The Merry Wives of Windsor, Bartholomew Fair (2019), Twelfth Night (2016), Measure for Measure, Othello, The Oresteia (2015), Julius Caesar, The Duchess of Malfi, The Knight of the Burning Pestle (2014), King Lear, Romeo and Juliet (2013), Hamlet (2012), Anne Boleyn, and Henry VIII (2010). Other theatre credits include: Anatomy of a Suicide, Harvest (The Royal Court), Labour of Love (Noel Coward Theatre), and The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, Richard II, Richard III, Julius Caesar, The Devil is an Ass (RSC).
Tickets for this production of Julius Caesar start at £10 and are available from the Oxford Playhouse Box Office on 01865 305 305, or can be booked online at www.oxfordplayhouse.com
Julius Caesar Shakespeare - Jack Myers as Lucius Anna Crichlow as Brutus (both images credit Helen Murray)