'How many ages hence shall this our lofty scene be acted o'er, in states unborn, and accents yet unknown'

One day, and 200 miles later, and I was in Newcastle for the evening performance of Julius Caesar at the Theatre Royal. Setting aside the annoying children* in the row in front of us, who fidgeted throughout, and were distracting until I was fully gripped by the performance, I really enjoyed Lucy Bailey’s production.

It's a play which, every time I see it, makes me reflect on what it says about war, and the nature of man. Very modern in so many ways. I think this production would have gripped me even more in the Courtyard Theatre, where the audience would have ‘become’ the citizens of Rome that Brutus and Mark Antony appeal to, wrapped around the thrust stage. The actors had to work harder in a proscenium arch theatre to involve the audience, and it too a while to get into it.

I really liked Greg Hicks’s Caesar, as he captured the hubris of the man. This Caesar was a danger to the republic because he was still climbing the greasy political pole, whereas I have seen Caesars in the past who were doddery old men.

Bailey used projection of crowds onto screens at the back of the stage, mingled with the actors, to represent the people of Rome, and whilst effective I felt that sometimes this was used too much.

The conspirators were a nervy bunch, almost afraid to carry out their plan. The murder itself was gripping; whilst knowing what was to happen, it made you hold your breath. The speeches after the murder were even more so, with Brutus’s fatal error in allowing Mark Antony to speak to the crowd turning them from supporters of the conspirators to a pack baying for their blood.

I loved Darrell D’Silva’s portrayal of Mark Antony as a fleshy boozer of a man, who was devastated by the murder of Caesar and in his performance you could easily see the seeds of what the character becomes in Antony and Cleopatra. You could already see the antagonism between him and Octavious, uneasy allies against the conspirators. D'Silva will play Antony in the later play next summer, and I'm quite excited by the prospect.

As the chief conspirators, Sam Troughton’s Brutus and John Mackay’s Cassius (definitely ‘lean and hungry’) missed some of the depth of the relationship between the two, perhaps because Mackay’s Cassius was a master manipulator of his friend.

Troughton’s Brutus was much younger than usual, which made it difficult to understand why the other conspirators should defer to him, and be so keen to have his support. Yet his performance as the good and noble man, trying to do what he felt was right for the state, yet constantly making the wrong decision, moved me, and I found myself in tears at his death.

I felt it was a much stronger production than Twelfth Night, not relying on 'stunt casting'. Perhaps some of the choices didn't always work, but they were always more interesting than those made by Doran.

*Who would take two young girls to Julius Caesar? It’s not the best way to introduce them to Shakespeare, and they were clearly bored to tears.