Year 7 Drama Production: Julius Caesar

In a fitting drama production for March, the Year 7 class brought life (and multiple convincing deaths) to Shakespeare’s challenging historical tragedy Julius Caesar. Set in the last days of the Roman Republic, the play famously portrays the events leading up to Julius Caesar’s brutal assassination in 44 BC and the civil war that follows.

Mrs Burden set the scene, explaining how Caesar had made himself dictator for life, causing Cassius to lead a conspiracy, drawing in Brutus and others, to plot his assassination and end his alleged tyranny. ‘Ultimately this is not a play about what you can do with weapons, but about what you can do with words’ explained Mrs Burden; ‘in today’s culture, how important for our young people to learn how to weigh words well.’ The whole class then opened the play with a thrilling reinterpretation of ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’, complete with scene-setting raps, breakdancing and a catchy chorus ‘…been spending most our lives in a late republic paradise’.

All of the pupils delivered their lines with beautiful clarity, bringing emotional depth and a clear understanding of their character’s role within the narrative. A few of the highlights were the magnificently menacing conspirators, including a bloodthirsty Casca, a passionate Pindarus and a cooly calculating Cassius; impassioned speeches from both Brutus, in defence of his actions, and Mark Antony, as he turns the crowd against the conspirators; an innocent Cinna the poet cowering from the attacking mob; haunting singing from the ghost of a mesmerising Portia; a distraught Calpurnia and an utterly compelling Caesar. The production also included a second whole class musical performance, as both conspirators and the forces of a defiant Octavius together declaimed ‘We will build back Rome’.

Congratulations to Year 7, masterfully directed by Mrs Burden, for a triumphant performance! Our praise and thanks also go to Mrs Lowe for her musical accompaniment, Mr Campbell for setting up the staging, lighting and sound, and Miss Monk on the lighting desk.

View a gallery: