Julius Caesar (Bridge Theatre)

You bunch of kleptomaniacs you

I saw this Sunday. Safely ensconced in the upper gallery. The Mob did look fun, but coming to it after 3 days of theatre and wandering around London I was in no mood to be shoved about and/or stand for 2 hours so I'm glad I was upstairs out of the way. The mob still made for a great atmosphere in there though and I thought used to great effect in the scenes.

I really enjoyed this production- it's not really in my top 10 Shakespeare plays, so honestly without the cast and the promise of this different take I probably wouldn't have bothered. But I really enjoyed the contemporary approach. In particular there were gender swaps in this that made a lot of sense/added to the story with a woman playing the part- and not to mention giving a couple of great parts to women in the play (unlike poor Portia...).

Is it the most nuanced take on the play? no. Do you lose bits of that from the cuts, sure. But if I wanted to take kids I was teaching or Shakespeare newbies/haters to see a play, I'd take them to this to show them what can be done with the text. And to be honest it was just a fun, engaging 2 hours of political backstabbing for an Easter Sunday.

Cast uniformly great. Whishaw and Morrissey were excellent, and worked extremely well as a pairing- especially in the opposite roles to what you might expect.

Experience slightly marred by the fact it was utterly freezing in there. I wouldn't normally have minded, but I'd spent 3 days wet and frozen in London and just wanted a nice sit down in the warm!

I only got the "tyranny is dead" leaflet. I really wanted a death poster but unfortunately the lady in front of me was quicker.
I use this leaflet as a bookmark - and I'm currently reading Machiavelli's biography... 

Hello all - any chance somebody who has been could advise me on the situation in the pit with regards to kids? I'd like to get a mob ticket at some point before it closes but I really don't want to end up in a mosh pit full of school kids. If I tried for a Saturday I'm guessing I might have a higher chance of avoiding them but a few people here have mentioned them (including on a Saturday).

Thanks!

One big advantage of the mob is you will not be cold. It is so bloody cold in the Gallery 2!

I went last week and from what I remember there were only about half a dozen or so children among the mob, seemingly all with parents/guardians, and all impeccably behaved, so I wouldn't worry too much about hordes of rampaging children (although I would have thought school parties would go in the week rather than the weekend)

Managed to get a return for the back row of gallery 2 for Saturday's matinee and was amazed to find (though others had said so) how good the view was; I certainly wouldn't hesitate to book for that area in future but am waiting for reports of the next few productions before booking, so may well miss the boat again.

However, as others have also said, it was fearsomely cold up there and 48 hours later I still have severe neck-and-shoulder ache, which is presumably due to savage air conditioning.

Re the production itself, it was interesting and I'm glad I had the opportunity to see it live but I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. For one thing it was too long for me (2 hours 10, given that the matinee actually finished at 4.40 pm) to sit in those uncomfortable seats without a break, though I appreciate that it was probably appropriate in this case to omit the interval. That did however leave me squirming after an hour or so as the seat depth is so short that it supports only about half your leg length. Also, rather oddly, 2 men next to me briefly left about 30 mins before the end, only to return shortly afterwards, so initially I thought they too had had enough.

The "music" was horrible, monotonous and relentless but probably ideal for rabble-rousing purposes so as with the lack of interval, a case of the production needs trumping my personal preference. All the cast were great apart from David Calder as Julius Caesar, whom I thought was miscast or misdirected. But really the whole thing goes to pot after Mark Antony's funeral oration and the battle scenes dragged on too long for me.

I can see why others would enjoy this and I would still recommend it as a very different theatrical experience to what many believe to be the norm; indeed I'm trying to encourage my OH to catch it in its final week as I think he'd get more from it than I did.

I saw the matinee on 14/04. Couldn't agree more with your comments. it was great to be in the "Roman Mob" and really feel in the story. Maybe a bit too much? I nearly went over when we had to move suddenly. One of the"security" asked me if I was alright, which I was. I also got dumped on by the battle debris from the roof. 

"Selfie stick generation"? Men in their 50s determined to make the most of family holiday snaps?

Hear hear. I've been watching Shakespeare since I was a kid and it's wonderful to see a truly diverse audience enjoy an immersive experience. Far removed from the middle England mob. Give me youthful noise and vitality any day.

It was incredibly diverse when I saw it too. Probably one of the most diverse audiences I have seen.

Truly diverse as in representing many (including Kent and Hampstead). Jeez, some people aren't happy unless they're beefing about something. It's theatre - just 'king enjoy it!