Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a cautionary tale for our times – “not as a simple act of tyranny overthrown, but as a complex moral and political tragedy—one that still speaks to the uncertainties of modern global politics”, reflects Marcel Meyer, about Abrahamse & Meyer Productions’ re-imagining of the play. The play, while set in ancient Rome, echoed contemporary anxieties in Elizabethan England. The world premiere of this concept production is in Cape Town at Artscape, May 22 to 31, 2025. Caesar is a woman (performed by Fiona Ramsay) but gender, like time is mutable and fluid and this production. The set “rises in three levels, with a central pool in the middle, because key sections of the play unfold within the evocative setting of a Roman bath.” Meyer provides fascinating insights:
TheCapeRobyn: Is this is a new production? Is the first time that Abrahamse & Meyer Productions is staging Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar?
Marcel Meyer: Yes, this is a new production. It’s very exciting to add a new Shakespeare play to our repertoire. Julius Caesar has been a play we have been wanting to do for a while now and when we finally landed on the concept for this production we were determined to get it up and on stage as soon as possible.
TCR: As with your other Shakespeare productions, it is a concept production. It is positioned in three periods 1599, the year Shakespeare penned the work against the backdrop of the Essex Rebellion; 44 BC, the historical setting of Caesar’s assassination and 2025, reflecting the modern era and the enduring relevance of the themes of power, loyalty, and betrayal. Can you elaborate on that?
MM: The adage that history repeats itself seems truer now than ever.
The assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC stands as one of history’s most defining political events, marking the violent end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of imperial rule. Caesar’s murder, orchestrated by senators who feared his growing power, echoes throughout history as a cautionary tale of political ambition, betrayal, and the fragile nature of democracy. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar immortalizes this moment, not as a simple act of tyranny overthrown, but as a complex moral and political tragedy—one that still speaks to the uncertainties of modern global politics.
Today, in an era marked by the rise of authoritarian leaders, political conspiracies, and democratic backsliding, Shakespeare’s play remains strikingly relevant
In this production of Julius Caesar, time and gender are fluid, shifting as seamlessly as in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. The play begins in the court of Elizabeth I on the eve of the Essex Rebellion—a moment of political uncertainty, intrigue, and the looming threat of betrayal. From here, the action dissolves into the world of ancient Rome in 44 BC, where the tensions between personal loyalty and public duty build inexorably toward Caesar’s assassination.
But history does not remain fixed. In the final sections of the play, the setting mutates once more, propelling us into the present day, where the echoes of power struggles, populist rhetoric, and political violence continue to reverberate. Just as time bends, so too does identity—gender is not static but fluid, underscoring the play’s universal themes of ambition, manipulation, and the cost of power.
We have deliberately chosen to set the play simultaneously in three key eras: the time of its writing (1599), the time of its historical setting (44 BC) and the time of its performance (2025). By holding these periods in tension with one another, we reveal how history folds in on itself—how the anxieties of Shakespeare’s England mirror those of ancient Rome and our contemporary world. In doing so, we invite the audience to consider the ways in which power is won and lost, how societies grapple with change, and whether the cycles of history can ever truly be broken.
TCR: Can you talk about “gender as a mutable force”. You are not tagging it as a gender swapped production. Gender is not so simple?
MM: Exactly. Like time, gender can be mutable depending on individual perspective.
In the opening sections of this production the incredible Fiona Ramsay plays Julius Caesar through the lens of Queen Elizabeth I, the reigning monarch during the time when Shakespeare wrote the play.
Queen Elizabeth I was aging, childless, and increasingly paranoid about plots against her rule. In this atmosphere of uncertainty and simmering dissent, Shakespeare and his company—the Lord Chamberlain’s Men—found themselves unwittingly drawn into the real-life drama of political conspiracy.
Only weeks before Julius Caesar is thought to have first been staged at the newly built Globe Theatre, England had been rocked by the failed Essex Rebellion. On February 8, 1601, Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl of Essex, once a favourite of Elizabeth I, attempted to incite a popular uprising against the Crown. Hoping to rally support, Essex and his supporters commissioned Shakespeare’s company to perform a special staging of Richard II —a play that famously dramatises the deposition of a reigning monarch.
The performance, arranged by Essex’s ally the Earl of Southampton (a known patron of Shakespeare), took place just one day before the rebellion. Though the uprising collapsed within hours and Essex was arrested and executed for treason, the event cast a dangerous light on the theatre’s political influence. Shakespeare’s company was questioned and although they denied any direct involvement, the incident underscored how plays could be interpreted—or weaponised—as political commentary.
It is in this charged climate that Julius Caesar emerged—a play about the assassination of a ruler, the fragility of republics, and the perils of ambition cloaked in patriotism. While set in ancient Rome, the play echoed contemporary anxieties in Elizabethan England. The figure of Caesar, like Elizabeth, was a powerful leader with no clear successor. The conspirators’ justification for murder—saving the state from tyranny—would have resonated deeply in a society still reeling from Essex’s failed coup.
By setting Julius Caesar in the distant past, Shakespeare cleverly explored the explosive themes of power and rebellion at a safe remove. Yet the parallels would not have been lost on his audience, many of whom had just witnessed real political violence. The play thus operates on two levels: as a gripping Roman tragedy, and as a subtle, timely meditation on loyalty, governance and the cost of civil discord.
Then in the middle section of the play leading up to the assassination Fiona plays the historical Caesar as a man, in the scenes set in ancient Rome. It is also in this part of the play it is also in this section of the play where Shakespeare introduced the only two female characters in the play in back-to-back scenes. The two respective wives of Caesar and Brutus, Portia and Calpurnia. In these scenes we have masked male actors playing the female roles to further unsettle preconceived binary notions about gender.
TCR: Insights into set and costume design and how you conjure up the three time periods?
MM: The opening sections of the play are set in the court of Queen Elizabeth I on the eve of the Essex rebellion and we have costumed this in very detailed highly elaborate Elizabethan costumes encrusted in pearls, with lush brocades and velvets, in a striking colour scheme of black and gold.
When we shift back in time, to 44 BC, we maintain the colour scheme of black and gold, to conjure the mysterious world of pagan Rome with its togas, sandals and laurel wreaths.
We have also taken inspiration from frescos in Pompeii depicting ancient Roman theatre and actors, and in these scenes, like in classical Roman theatre, we utilise elaborate masks.
Another inspiration for the “Roman” scenes is iconic Italian film director Frederico Fellini’s 1969 masterpiece Satyricon.
In the post assassination scenes, the timeframe shifts one last time to current day. The colour scheme remains constant, but the garments are identifiably modern but suited to the personality of these iconic characters.
Because of the shifting time frames we wanted a neutral playing space that could serve each of the diverse eras.
The set rises in three levels, with a central pool in the middle, because key sections of the play unfold within the evocative setting of a Roman bath. This choice is not merely an aesthetic one; it is a powerful dramatic device that deepens the themes of the play and offers fresh insight into Shakespeare’s exploration of power, loyalty, and betrayal.
The Roman bath was a unique social space in which men of all ranks—senators, generals, merchants, and plebeians—shed their togas along with the markers of their status. Here, stripped of the trappings of office and rank, all men were equal. This setting intensifies the political tensions of the play, as characters who wield immense power in the Senate find themselves in an environment where that power is temporarily suspended, their vulnerabilities laid bare both physically and metaphorically.
The intimacy of the bathhouse also accentuates the personal conflicts at the heart of Julius Caesar. Conversations held in the steam-filled chambers or whispered in the tepidarium carry an added charge of secrecy and danger. The conspirators’ plotting takes on a new dimension when seen in a place of supposed openness and equality, reminding us that in Rome, as in the world of Shakespeare’s play, the pursuit of power knows no boundaries.
This space of purification and renewal is ultimately transformed into a site of horror. In the wake of Caesar’s assassination, the bathhouse becomes a literal bloodbath—his lifeblood mingling with the waters as the conspirators, true to historical accounts, smear themselves with it in a grotesque ritual of triumph and complicity. The setting makes this moment all the more visceral: where once bodies were cleansed, they are now stained with the consequences of ambition and betrayal. The warm, steamy air becomes suffocating, the once-inviting waters turned into a pool of violent reckoning.
By setting these key moments in the bath, we highlight the tension between the ideals of the Republic and the reality of political manoeuvring. What does equality mean when it is only skin-deep? And in a space where no man is above another, is betrayal made easier or harder? In this charged atmosphere, the audience is invited to witness Julius Caesar through a new lens—one that reveals not only the strength of its characters, but also their fragility.
TCR: This is a short run. Will this production go to the USA?
MM: Correct. Theatre lovers in the Mother City only have 10 performances to see this production of Shakespeare’s thrilling masterpiece. We are already in discussions with various international theatres and festivals who are interested in presenting the production after the season at Artscape.
❇ Featured image: Marcel Meyer as Brutus and Matthew Baldwin as Cassius in a re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, presented by Abrahamse & Meyer Productions, May 22 to 31, 2025, Artscape Arena, Cape Town. Images by Fiona MacPherson. Supplied. Press release for this production: https://thecaperobyn.co.za/stage-shakespeares-julius-caesar-in-bold-new-production-at-artscape-may-2025/
