Théâtre National de Bretagne
Direction Arthur Nauzyciel
Duration 3h20
with intermission
In English with French subtitles
Available on tour Jan - mid-March 2025
In his inaugural season as director of the TNB, Arthur Nauzyciel revives his memorable American production of Shakespeare’s most political tragedy.
With Julius Caesar, Arthur Nauzyciel develops references to the 1960s (and the assassination of President Kennedy), a time when images triumphed over words, when icons and illusions became more important than the content of discourse. Setting the action in such troubled times, Nauzyciel creates a counterweight to the politics of the play, where language and rhetoric hold sway, and where words can change the course of the world. Bringing together on stage a jazz trio and a company of American actors, some of whom are regulars in the celebrated television series The Wire and Six Feet Under, Nauzyciel stunningly reveals to the audience the poetry of Shakespeare’s enigmatic play.
Rarely performed in France, Julius Caesar is, in the United States, one of Shakespeare’s best-known plays. Arthur Nauzyciel first created Julius Caesar in 2008 at the invitation of the American Repertory Theater (Boston), one of America’s most innovative theaters. His production of Julius Caesar at the A.R.T. was his fourth show in the United States. The artistic associations established at that time continue until the present day, with Riccardo Hernandez for the scenic design, Scott Zielinski for the lighting, and Damien Jalet for the choreography and dance performance. The reprising of Julius Caesar, the production history of which has left its indelible mark on Nauzyciel’s later work, inaugurated (September 2017) the new director’s first season at the TNB.
Duration 3h20
with intermission
By
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Direction
ARTHUR NAUZYCIEL
Set
RICCARDO HERNANDEZ
Lights
SCOTT ZIELINSKI
Costumes
JAMES SCHUETTE
Sound
DAVID REMEDIOS
Choreographer
DAMIEN JALET
Assistant
BERTILLE KAPELA
General manager
SYLVAIN SAYSANA
Lighting technician
CHRISTOPHE DELARUE
Sound technician
FLORENT DELMAS
Props / Wardrobe
MYRIAM RAULT
Stage technician
ANTOINE GIRAUD ROGER
With
SARA KATHRYN BAKKER
LUCA CARBONI
JARED CRAIG
ROY FAUDREE
ISMA’IL IBN CONNER
ISAAC JOSEPHTHAL
DYLAN KUSSMAN
MARK MONTGOMERY
RUDY MUNGARAY
DANIEL PETTROW
TIMOTHY SEKK
NEIL PATRICK STEWART
JAMES WATERSTON
and the jazz trio
DMITRY ISHENKO (double bass)
LEANDRO PELLIGRINO (guitar)
MARIANNE SOLIVAN (vocals)
Executive production: Théâtre National de Bretagne.
Coproduction: Centre Dramatique National Orléans/Loiret/Centre in partnership with the American Repertory Theatre (major production sponsor: Philip and Hilary Burling); Festival d’Automne à Paris; Maison des Arts de Créteil; TGP-CDN de Saint-Denis. With the support of Etant Donnés/The French- American Fund for the Performing Arts, a Program of FACE.