Veteran theatre exponent Jill Navarre returns with her Auroville troupe to stage Julius Caesar, a play where betrayal is only the beginning and the real tragedy lies in what follows. Known for her enduring engagement with the Bard, Jill approaches this political tragedy with both reverence and a contemporary lens.
“Another year, another Shakespeare play,” she tells Indulge. “I can’t go too long without my ‘Shakespeare fix’. It gives me a high like no other playwright I can name.” This time, though, the spark came from outside the rehearsal room. “When world politics began to shake and chaos was on the horizon, I knew that we must show our audience what happens when foolish men do foolish things. After reading the play multiple times, I began to see a message I hadn’t anticipated. Shakespeare, to stay safe, didn’t directly call out a tyrant. Instead, he focused on Brutus and Cassius, the men behind the conspiracy, and what happens after they succeed.”
That ‘after’, she explains, is where the real tragedy lies. “They didn’t have a follow-up plan. Like, what happens after we assassinate Julius Caesar? You mean you just take him out and then hope the people support you. Does this sound familiar? ”
In the rehearsal room, the toughest nut to crack was the assassination itself. “So far, the most challenging scene to direct is the actual assassination scene. I’m still not satisfied that we understand what is happening there. But no spoilers. We are still in the process.”
With this being her ninth Shakespeare production, Jill is confident that the play will strike a chord with modern audiences. “The connection to today’s headlines does half the work. Maybe it’s not just Rome we’re looking at.”
What keeps Julius Caesar alive, she says, is its emotional clarity. “It’s so human. Two marriages, Caesar and Calphurnia, Brutus and Portia. Two worried wives. Two friends caught in something bigger than themselves. It’s almost like a modern bromance. Everyone is standing at a moment of decision, and the consequences are huge and tragic.”
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