Oregon Shakespeare Fest offers modern dress Caesar

[RayKelly]

From the Wall Street Journal, Aug. 26, 2011:

The modern-dress "Julius Caesar" that Orson Welles brought to Broadway in 1937 continues to cast a long shadow. By turning the play into a contemporary parable of fascism on the march, Mr. Welles raised the curtain on the high-concept production style that now dominates Shakespeare staging throughout the world. I don't know whether Amanda Dehnert had Mr. Welles in mind when she created her own modern-dress version of "Julius Caesar" for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, but it's very much in the tradition of that legendary production, albeit with a few postmodern frills, foremost among them the casting of a woman, Vilma Silva, in the title role. It is also the best "Julius Caesar" I've ever seen, a stark parable of good intentions run amok that has the attention-grabbing power of a hand grenade lobbed into a crowded room.


Read more at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903461304576524141482224466.html

[mteal]

Is it my imagination or does the female Caesar seem a little Sarah Palinish?:

[tonyw]

Or Hilary Clinton gloating after the murder of Gadaffi?

[mteal]

For sure, Tony. "We came, we saw, he died." Whoa.

[Glenn Anders]

The comely Ms. Silva evidently makes an impression. The reviewer calls the production the best he has ever seen! She certainly does resemble Hillary Clinton in her most imperious mode -- an association Hillary may one day rue.

Glenn

[Glenn Anders]

Addendum: As the tabloid news of peccadillos piles up on poor Presidential Candidate Herman Cain's head, it is surprising that at least one of his many Republican opponents has not issued a press statement evoking "Citizen Cain (sic)"!

G. A.

[tonyw]

Good one, Glenn. But they have probably never seen the film, let alone heard of it. Their viewing may be limited to fundamentalist apocalyptic movies!

[mteal]

Ah, then they might at least be familiar with Welles from THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH.

[tonyw]

Only if it has appeared on Fox TV.