Julius Caesar was assassinated by some 40 Roman senators on the “ides of March.” His death on March 15, 44 BC led to the fall of the Roman Republic and the birth of the Roman Empire.
William Shakespeare’s account was brought to the New York stage by Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre on November 11, 1937. Welles directed the critically acclaimed modern dress production and played Brutus.
Caesar evoked comparison to Mussolini’s Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. The play ran on Broadway through 1941 and led to a national tour.
New York Post critic John Mason Brown called Caesar “by all odds the most exciting, the most imaginative, the most topical, the most awesome and the most absorbing of the season’s new productions. The touch of genius is upon it.” Stage magazine wrote in a cover story “the Mercury’s bare-stage, modern-dress production of that classic (is) one of the most exciting dramatic events of our time.”
A fictionalized account of the Mercury Theatre production was the basis for Richard Linklater’s 2008 period film Me and Orson Welles with Zac Efron and Christian McKay. Linklater’s film skillfully recreated several scenes from the 1937 stage show.
Welles and the Mercury Theatre On the Air performed an abridged version on CBS radio on September 11, 1938.
The original radio broadcast can be streamed on the Lilly Library website at orsonwelles.indiana.edu/items/show/2201, courtesy of Indiana University. The slightly longer rehearsal recording can be heard at wellesnet.com/audio-orson-welles-the-radio-years
An original cast recording was made in 1938 and released on a set of five, 78 rpm records by Columbia Masterworks Records the following year. That recording and other Shakespearean performances by Welles and the Mercury Theatre may be found online (streaming or download) at archive.org/details/Orson_Welles_Shakespeare_Collection
So, hail Caesar… but beware the ides of March.”
__________
Post your comments on the Wellesnet Message Board.