TV blog

I'm very much looking forward to seeing this production. (Paterson Joseph's work impressed me from his "Cheek by Jowl" days.)

What a superb production! Thank you, BBC, for letting us see this. Patterson Joseph, Cyril Nri & Ray Fearon were tremendous.

OK, I saw this production, the one they televised, live' at RSC Stratford on Avon, at the 7:15pm performance, on 2 June. I was blown away by Ray Fearon's performance and the whole production, it was magnificent. Now, I confess that, if you will allow me to indulge myself, as this blog has very few entries so far, that I will make a further comment when I have caught up with the televised performance on the iPlayer. Julius Caesar was what I studied for O Level, way back in 1979, and I was very lucky in that the previous BBC production of JC was transmitted in the spring of that year. I was even more lucky in that my English Lit teacher at the time, Martin Tyrell (yes, see link below, the very same teacher who taught Benedict Cumberbatch at Harrow - and - I believe he taught Lawrence Fox too - and even possibly Adam Woodyatt) took me into character studies of Antony and Brutus.

The Cumberbatch/Tyrell link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012tnt0

Now, I was an extraordinary bad pupil, an utter disaster, and I hated Shakespeare
with utter contempt, as I thought he was a.... well.... er... I was a punk at the time and I just couldn't stand him. Anyway, 33 years later, having paid an awful price for being a rebel (no career), here we are, a performance that I thought was the most extraordinary and powerful Shakespeare play I have yet seen, in my entire life. Yes, I will do a part II to this blog, honest, this play and my life are interwoven. Anyway, I also enjoyed Benedict in the Rattigan Enigma too, and Mr Tyrell does not look like he's aged much either. So, part II of this very personal review later this week!

I am never a great fan of direct and rather reductive parallels to modern historical characters, but the African setting works. Even the Winnie Mandela ‘necklacing’ scene manages to shock and portray effectively the horror of mob violence.

However, what struck me most was the quality of the verse speaking. Rarely have I heard (Mark Rylance aside) this language so clear, direct, simple and honest. The Africa accents and cadence breathe freshness into the language—at times almost mono-syllabic and often rhythmically jolting, with lots of (what seem) inversions of traditional stresses. There is, too, the Baptist Church-like response from the crowd to the great oratory in act 3, which brings the crowd scenes to vivid life. There is more to it than the accents, though.

This production demonstrates to anyone (regardless of ethnicity) how to communicate Shakespeare’s language: with directness, glass-edged clarity and restraint. Add to that the very great emotional truth of it all, where all sounds emanate and echo from the gut, and we have, I would argue, as fine an ensemble in a Shakespeare production as you are likely to see.

Thank you so much for screening this fantastic, magnificent, thoughtful, sensitive, well-acted, brilliantly directed, powerfully produced (superlatives running out ) version of Julius Caesar. I last read parts of it for 'O' level at a girl's grammar school 45 years ago and never realised it's profundity and timeless qualities. Brilliant setting for it which helped combine African politics/post-colonial issues and general macho/male/ testosterone filled styles of social change with brilliant poetry. Bravo shakespeare, the whole cast, RSC , production team and BBC4. I have at last appreciated the depths of the play and so many "quotable quotes". Thouroughly enjoyable and, at last, some TV it seems worth paying the licence for!