Julius Caesar for Cliff Anderson’s
Subraj Singh, Director, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
Subraj Singh, Director, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

AS secondary school students continue to prepare for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, they’ll soon be in for a rare treat as Julius Caesar, one of the most plays from William Shakespeare, comes to life at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall next Wednesday at 10:00hrs.
A production of Gems Theatre Productions in collaboration with the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama (NSTAD), this local adaptation will be directed by Subraj Singh, who said that the choice to stage the play was made given that Julius Caesar will not be on the CSEC Literature syllabus next year, and would therefore be a good opportunity to expose the students to what is considered one of Shakespeare’s best plays in a way that could help them to understand it better.

“This play was chosen because it is known that students, on account of the Elizabethan language, usually have a harder time following the works of Shakespeare, as opposed to the works of other playwrights. “We felt that having the students witness an actual production of the play would have helped to make it more understandable to them,” Subraj told The Buzz.
Moreover, much like many of Shakespeare’s works, Julius Casear presents universal themes which have made the playwright’s work timeless, and are also very much relatable to young people. Some of these themes include power, politics, manipulation, duality, fate and free will, the public and private selves, and several others.

“For the most part, we tried to create the play as authentically as possible because our purpose with this production is to make the play, its themes and messages, and characters, more understandable to students,” the young director said, adding:
“Therefore, a lot of the elements in the production were designed so as to evoke the Shakespearean elements of the drama. For example, the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall was chosen as the venue for the production because it allowed us to create what can be considered an arena-style theatre space, which is more similar to what was actually done in Shakespeare’s time.”
Other elements such as costumes, and set design, he said, were created to evoke a sense of the time in which the play was set, which helps to position the audience in the midst of the drama.

“So, the soldiers look like actual Roman soldiers and the senators look like actual Roman senators; and the senate house is made of ramps that resemble actual senate houses from the past,” he said.
Of course, those who know Subraj’s own work will know his affinity with post-modernism, and, true to form, he has incorporated some of this into the adaptation to help to portray the theme of fate.
“The three Fates, of Roman and Greek mythology, are given a physical presence in the play, where they have been fused with the Soothsayer, an original character in Shakespeare’s play,” he said.
This is the second CSEC play that the young writer will have his hands in, having staged Derek Walcott’s Ti Jean and his Brothers last year at the National Cultural Centre, which received rave reviews from schools and other attendees.
Subraj admits that it was coming off of that success that he was influenced to direct another CSEC play.

“I was able to see how much they had learnt from the production, and how it was going to help them in their studies. The theatre component of education is important; theatre as a tool for teaching is important, and, therefore, I am honoured to be able to help the Literature students in their studies by helping to bring these plays to life,” he said.
He added, however, that producer Gem Madhoo, whose work is no stranger to the local theatre industry, also has a long history of staging plays for CSEC students, and had planned on staging the play for quite some time.
And while theatre in Guyana has had its fair share of struggles for receiving adequate sponsorship and other forms of support from the relevant stakeholders, Subraj said that through the work of NSTAD and other bodies such as Gem’s Theatre Productions, the Theatre Guild and the National Drama Company (which is a subsidiary of NSTAD) theatre still has a firm foothold in Guyana. “Even if the support is not there sometimes from the general public, it helps that the people in theatre can support each other and continue to work together to make Drama in Guyana as amazing as it can be,” he said.
Subraj is certain that the support for this particular play will be given, however, adding that people understand the benefit of seeing a play come alive on stage to analysing the play.
“Teachers and parents will respond, and will send the students out to see the production because they understand how much it can help,” he said.
The production is also open to the general public, and he is encouraging local theatre fans to come and see the play, despite the main purpose for which it is being staged.

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