GREAT ROMAN TRAGEDY

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 186, 27 October 1927, Page 17

GREAT ROMAN TRAGEDY

“JULIUS CAESAR” "Julius Caesar” was presented by Mr. Allan Wilkie’s company at His Majesty’s Theatre last night. CHARACTERS Marcus Antonius.. Mr. Allan Wilkie. Julius Caesar Mr. Milton Sands. Octavius Caesar .. .. Mr. Dennis Barry. Marcus Brutus Mr. John Cairns. Cassius Mr. Frank Clewlow. Metellus Cimber Mr. Herbert Sheldrick. Casca Mr. William Lockhart. Trebonius Mr. John Cameron. Decius Brutus Mr. Arthur Keane. A Soothsayer .. .. Mr. Vincent Scully. Pindarus Mr. Max Sorrelle. Varro Mr. Duncan Rossmore. Claudius Mr. J. Edgar. Lucius .. .. .. .. Miss Dulcie Cherry. Calpurnia Miss Lorna Forbes. Portia Miss Hunter-Watts. “Julius Caesar,” the first fruit of Shakespeare’s great tragic mood, is notable because of the manner in which the chronicled events furnish the background for the development of character. The attritians of circumstance, and their influence on the great characters of the play show that Shakespeare has acquired a mastery over his characters such as he never had before. It is possible to comment on the construction of many of the Shakesperean plays, but "Caesar” is one which must be accepted without critical c'avil. It is an excellent stage play, and though it has neither the height nor the depth “of the greatest tragedies, the technique, especially in the way in which interest is maintained after Caesar’s death, is admirable. Brutus, one of those genuinely highsouled men, is of the type which has been .responsible for many world calamities. He had the highest possible ideals, but counteracting this, a lamentable ignorance of men. Being conscious of his own sincerity of purpose, he feels that whatever he does must be right. Poor Caesar, on the other hand, is made a somewhat contemptible figure, one from which past greatness has seeped away. The play is one of great moments and it is only necessary to recall such scenes as the Forum speech, of Antony, and the quarrel between Brutus and Cassius. I Mar. Wilkie made Antony a vital figure subtly compounded of love and cunning. He* was magnificent in the Forum scene, and marring faults absent in those great moments. Mr. Cairns was happily cast, and he brought to the stage the essentials of the character of Brutus in an easy, artistic manner. With Mr. Clewlow, he was excellent in the quarrel scene. Mr. Sands was .reasonably satisfactory as Caesar. Being essentially a man’s play dealing with high state events, there is little scope for women, but two wifely characters were played finely by Miss Forbes and Miss Hun-ter-Watts. "Romeo and Juliet” will be revived to-night.