The Globe’s audience serve as the easily swayed mob in Diane Page’s production of Shakespeare’s story of stolen power. A willing crowd, we’ll repeat whatever is chanted to us, happy to swap sides if we feel it will please the performers. The effect of this is funny, but never frightening. The cast of eight unravel this world of ancient Rome with gusto, but it hardly feels like the future of the republic depends on these decisions, or as if the person in charge could make or break the country. To the audience, it just feels like a bit of a laugh.
In this modern-dress production, with clean pale suits begging for blood splatters, the well-spoken battle for power rarely broadens out beyond the characters’ concerns with their own morality. Without a sense of genuine peril, their final fights seem flimsy, and their ultimate actions often selfish. The brief encounters between Caesar (Dickon Tyrrell) and those who rise up against him are sped through, making it difficult to comprehend the strength of their relationships, and the impact of their conspiracy.
