JULIUS CAESAR

Group 101

Trenton Fuller - Director

Thuria Younis - Sets

Kainat Pasha - Costumes

Monica Tice - Lights

CHAPTER 1DIRECTING

CASTING

❖Brutus – Denzel Washington

❖Julius Caesar – Leonardo DiCaprio

❖Antony – Ralph Fiennes

❖Octavius – Neil Patrick Harris

❖Cassius – Ian McKellan

❖Casca – Gerard Butler

CASTING (CONT’D)

❖Calpurnia – Anne Hathaway

❖Portia – Natalie Portman

❖Cicero – Al Pacino

❖Flavius – Matthew Broderick

❖Lepidus – Laurence Fishburne

❖Decius – Joseph Gordon-Levitt

SPINE

❖The inner struggles of Brutus – loyalty to his friend vs. loyalty to his

country – that eventually lead to his own personal demise.

❖Brutus acts on public wishes and neglects his personal feelings

towards Caesar.

THEMES

❖Bloodshed is caused by the unwillingness to compromise.

❖Power grabs during times of political strife lead to betrayals and

dirty politics.

❖Fate is a force that is stronger than man.

❖Neglect of personal feelings for widely held public opinions.

STYLE

❖A realistic approach will be taken to perform Julius Caesar (i.e., the

play will try to be as historically accurate and believable as possible,

from garb to speech), however, Julius Caesar and Brutus will be given

soliloquies to express their internal struggles.

SYMBOLISM

❖This play will be used as an allegory for the cut-throat behavior seen

in modern political arenas.

❖This play will also symbolize the abandonment of privacy and

personal opinions in modern society in exchange for social

networking and celebrity.

MOTIFS

❖The stabbing scene of Caesar on the “Ides of March” will take place

underneath a starry sky. The last thing Caesar will see before he dies will

be the stars in the sky, representing the fate that has fallen upon him. The

same starry sky will be used when Cassius and Brutus commit suicide.

MOTIFS (CONT’D)

❖Large, bloody dagger present on stage during the entirety of the play. The blood

will not only represent the bloodshed that occurs throughout the play, it will also

represent Caesar’s mortality (that he never fully accepted).

❖The blades will be used to represent betrayal and the “back-stabbing” of Caesar

by the conspirators, as well as the fate that is destined for many of the characters.

CHAPTER 2SET DESIGN

SET DESIGN FOR STAGE

SETTING THE SCENE

❖Thrust Stage

❖Antirealism

❖The year is 44 B.C. The scenes in the orchard and field take place in

the same area on stage. The scenes inside Brutus’ home will be on the

opposite side of the stage where some chairs and a table will be

placed. Lighting will draw attention away from the other areas on

stage and only focus on the one in which the characters are acting.

The main setting for the play is the Capitol.

THRUST STAGE

THRUST STAGE

❖The thrust stage is used to engage the audience in what is occurring

❖The audience should feel as if they are witnesses to the events that

are happening- as if they are the Roman senate making judgments on

what is occurring

THRUST STAGE

❖The stage will significantly be the main focal point in certain scenes

in order to depict the emotion, violence, and pathos present.• There will be a raised level of the stage above the audience, created

by a raised wooden platform. This set design will be very important in Act III.

• The speeches will be addressed to the audience directly, involving them in what will feel like a political rally which will engage them in the play even further

SET ELEMENTS

❖Set is presented to have the audience focus on the characters and be

in tune with their emotions

❖The set will include greenery, raised platforms to add levels to the

stage, and columns• The platforms will be created from wooden structures

SET PROPS

❖Columns

❖Plants and bushes

❖Ledgers

❖Lamps

❖Fake blood for assassination

HAND PROPS

❖8 daggers

❖Umbrellas for the storm scene

❖Briefcases

❖Wine bottle and glasses

❖Letters and envelopes

❖Maps for the battle scene

❖Whiskey bottle and glasses

ELEMENTS OF DESIGN

❖Lines - straight lines are used to portray an elegant and clean feel

❖Mass and composition – Large columns on stage provide dominance to the actors but

their neutral tone makes them blend into the background to give light to the actors

❖Texture - The design is a very architecturally smooth look with the roman columns

being the main focal piece

❖Color - the set is neutral cream toned with simple greenery to reflect simplicity and

purity, while the evil characters are in darker colors to reflect their harsh motives

❖Movement - There is much movement between the scenes as acts happen in different

areas on stage in different locations as set in the play.

CHAPTER 3 COSTUME DESIGN

SETTING/HISTORICAL PERIOD

❖Time Period – The play was set during the time

period of 44 B.C.

MEN VS. WOMEN

❖Women - StolasThe stola is a distinctive garment famous in ancient Rome

for women similar to the toga. It was used to distinguish

prostitutes from the higher class women. Prostitutes would

wear togas)

❖Men - TogasThe toga is a distinctive garment famous in

ancient Rome worn over a tunic.

THE COMMONERS

They will wear informal plain outfits made of

cotton or some low quality fabric. They will

wear dull colors like gray/olive to signify their

low status.

❖The Commoner that claims he is a cobbler

will have a dirtier shirt with black spots to

reflect he is in the labor class.

SIMILAR CHARACTERS

❖ Marullus, Flavius, Octavius

❖ They will wear toga’s to separate them from the

commoners.

❖ Their toga’s will be plain white with no detailed

embroidery to rank them lower than characters

like Caesar.

❖ Togas will be made out of bed sheets.

CAESAR

❖Caesar is one of the main characters in the play along with Brutus

❖His costume should depict a rich higher class than the other individuals in the society.

❖He too will wear a toga over his costume, however it will be a different color and more

detailed in stitching and will contain gold thread.

❖His maroon toga will be made from a scarf with a ribbon to tie around the waist.

❖Scene 2/Opening Scene: He will wear a crown on his head to symbolize his defeat of Pompey

in battle.

❖His consistent costume throughout the play will be symbolic of his powerful status and the

idea that his power role is constant and eternal.

CAESAR

CALPURNIA/PORTIA

❖They will wear multiple-layered white stolas (also

made from bedsheets).

❖The pure white stolas will signify their purity.

❖Their hair will be in a braided up do

❖Calpurnia will have a green leaf headband similar

to Caesar’s crown in the opening scene to help the

audience identify her as his wife.

OTHER CHARACTERS

❖Anthony – He will wear a toga without a tunic to signify he battles.

This will help show his body portraying a more manlier appeal.

❖Soothsayer – He will wear a cotton t-shirt/ratchet clothes with

tangled hair to reflect the his poor status.

❖Cicero, Lepidus - They will wear the standard white togas similar to

Flavius and Octavius.

❖They will wear toga’s similar to Marullus and Flavius.

❖The color of their togas will be a darker color –

black/dark grey to signify their dark intentions throughout

the play.

❖This will help the audience distinguish their motives and

easily identify them as negative characters.

CASSIUS/CASCA/DECIUS

BRUTUS

❖He is the tragic hero of the play.

❖He will also wear a toga similar to the other

characters.

❖His toga color however will change as the play

progresses.• He will wear a pure white toga in the

beginning and then he will wear a darker color once he has mixed emotions about Caesar’s ruling ( ACT II SCENE 1).

CHAPTER 4LIGHT DESIGN

VISIBILITY

❖Selects what should be seen and not seen at any point in the play.

Or, in other words, exemplifying some important visual in the play.

❖An example would be having the spotlight on Caesar’s dead body

when it was being presented to the crowd.

TIME AND PLACE

❖The time of day, season, places (forest, house, etc.)

❖An example would be brighter lights in the morning, dimmer lights

at night, sunnier in the spring, and a bit grayer/gloomier in the winter.

❖An example would be the bright lights (sun) in the setting for the

Battle of Philippi.

MOOD

❖Different lightings can show and affect the mood of the scene.

❖Gloomy lights for gloomier things; red, more intense lights for

suspenseful moments.

❖An example would be passionate purple lighting for when Caesar

says, “Et tu, Brutus?”

REINFORCE STYLE

❖This means that you make it feel like the lights come from “real”

sources.

❖An example would be having the lights act as the sun or the stars,

becoming brighter or dimmer depending on the setting of the scene.

VISUAL RHYTHM/MOVEMENT

❖This basically means the transitioning from scene to scene.

❖In our rendition of Julius Caesar, we would use a total blackout for

changing scenes, or shift the lighting to a different part of the stage.

SHAPES AND FORMS

❖This is where the light is on stage. There is selective visibility, and

specific spotlights on certain people.

❖An example would be when Brutus stabs Caesar. A spotlight on

them would increase the tension between them.

CENTRAL VISUAL IMAGE

❖This means that there is lighting on parts of scenes that are not

explained or said, but rather shown.

❖An example would be when Brutus is included into the conspiring

senators that wanted to kill Caesar.

ONSTAGE FOCUS/VISUAL COMPOSITIONS

❖This is where the focus of the scene has the most lighting.

❖An example would be when Brutus commits suicide.