Shakespeare: Julius Caesar [Donmar; Harriet Walter; Jade Anouka; Sheila Atim; Jackie Clune] [Opus Arte: OA1224D] [DVD] [NTSC] [Region Free] [2019]

Phyllida Lloyd sets Julius Caesar in a women's prison for a number of reasons. Evidently there's a desire to 'translate' a Roman history into a modern situation that makes it easier to relate to its themes, and there is some measure of social or community outreach involved in bringing together actors and audiences who might otherwise be wary of Shakespeare, but it also means that the play features an all-female cast, the first of three in a Shakespeare Trilogy that Lloyd developed for the Donmar Warehouse.If it's just giving an actor like Harriet Walter the chance to play Brutus, the project is more than worthwhile. Her presence and performance as Brutus is far removed from the traditional testosterone-charged masculinity or military bearing and it captures much better that sense of ambiguity and conflict that assails Brutus, his genuine love for Caesar as a dear friend and colleague, someone close to himself in nature and ambition. Does Brutus really fear the ambition he sees in Rome's ruler or is it his own ambition that he recognises in Caesar when he decides to kill him?The setting in a woman's prison also highlights the latent violence, where gangs hold sway and power and tensions can quickly boil over. It's not a perfect match for the text evidently, but it does touch on the essence of what the play is about and bring out new aspects. That involves a few changes and additions to the text and a few outbursts of modern vernacular, but they are mostly restricted to the 'framing' device of it being a play performed by inmates with one or two meta-theatrical interruptions that demands the intervention of prison warders when things get out of hand.Essentially however it's still Shakespeare's text that still has the greater role and impact. There are cuts introduced to bring it down to 2 hours, but it has to be said that it's a fascinating reading of the work that does place the characters in a very different light. Lloyd does well to give each of the roles distinct personalities (and differing regional accents help), and this has the effect of changing the dynamic of interaction between them, with Harriet Walter's Brutus pivotal not just to Caesar and Cassius, but significantly with Clare Dunne's fierce Portia.There's a lot to reconsider there, and the intimacy of the prison yard set (recreated in the round at King's Cross in 2016 for the live film recording) really enhances the intensity of those performances. The production seethes with repressed violence that after Caesar's death and the speeches descends into almost into an abstraction of madness, underscored by a rock drummer and loud guitar. It's utterly electrifying, occasionally frustrating and annoying, but by closing down the momentous history drama to focus on the human drama in a contained smaller scale environment, the production does seem to capture some of the political and populist heat of the moment in a very human way.This is the first of Phyllida Lloyd's all-female trilogy of all-female productions at the Donmar to be released on DVD (alongside Henry IV and The Tempest). The DVD is in NTSC format and region-free for worldwide distribution and compatibility, and it looks and sounds impressive, the image clear and well-lit, with Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 sound options. There are a good selection of extra features that cover the intentions and approach to the play with contributions from Phyllida Lloyd and the actors. There's also a full-length director's commentary.