Blake Carlson, Jakob Duncan and Jeff Sanders met with E.J. Iannelli in the KPBX studio to discuss their new production of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and perform select scenes. The play opens this weekend at Eastern Washington University.
Carlson and Duncan are both EWU Theatre students and are playing conspirators Cassius and Brutus, respectively. Sanders is a senior lecturer in the EWU Theatre program and is directing this production.
Sanders offered some historical context for the play and talked about its timelessness as well as its key ambiguities. The power struggles, questions of allegiance and personal motives are far from clear cut, which makes the play so adaptable and, in Sanders' words, "stretchable."
After Carlson and Duncan introduced their characters, Sanders also explained his choice of Sara Goff, who heads EWU's theater program, for the role of Julius Caesar.
The actors performed two scenes from Julius Caesar. The first was a monologue by Brutus in which he finally resolves to kill Caesar. The second was an intimate conversation between Cassius and Brutus that centers around loyalty.
Julius Caesar opens this Friday (Nov. 10) and runs until Saturday, November 18 at Eastern Washington University. Tickets and showtimes are available via the EWU Theatre website or by calling (509) 359-2459.
