Julius Caesar (Hamlet Isn't Dead) NYC Reviews and Tickets

91%

(14 Reviews)

Positive

100%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Entertaining, Great acting, Absorbing, Relevant, Intelligent

About the Show

Hamlet Isn't Dead presents a new staging of Shakespeare's historical tragedy.

Member Reviews (14)

Smart, Uneven, Gender-bending, Lean, Clear

See it if you'd like to experience a "Julius Caesar" that feels effortlessly contemporary.

Don't see it if you are expecting the standard ideological face-off between Brutus & Antony to be the night's central thread. Read more

Entertaining, Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Great direction

See it if you want to see a director, Emily Jackson, master a script.

Don't see it if you want a 20th or 21st century version of Shakespeare. This more the comedy that the Bard intended. Read more

Critic Reviews (3)

“Jackson inverts the Balcony Theater so that the audience is seated in the pit, looking up...allowing for dynamic level-playing...The stage pictures created against this are clear and interesting..The playful approach to the text by the performers, tossing in sotto voce asides during each other's speeches...Because it's a weightier story, it undercuts (at least for me), some of the moments of rhetoric for which this play is known...The cast is versatile and playful.”
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“Everyone in the cast spoke with clarity...They knew what they were saying and the result was a conversational tone...The somewhat spare venue...was effective and well-used...The performance seemed to lack gravitas...The gender changes may have influenced my impression...I don’t know why it was done. It didn’t illuminate any feminist issues. It didn’t offer any additional insights...The War of Phillippi, as choreographed by Pragel, was simply breathtaking.”
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“What works, works brilliantly...Pragel's fight direction was smart, cinematic, and spectacular...It was apparent that several times actors were simply left to sit on the steps and deliver the text...A physical abandonment that...somewhat muddied relationships between sets of characters...Sometimes the clown elements felt out of place...This production had several electrifying moments, and the whole concept came together...A riotous good time and a smart presentation."
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