“No, they won’t be speaking in low voices. No, they won’t paint mustaches and five o’clock shadows on their faces. No, we won’t be changing the text. ASF just happens to have some fine actresses and we want to show them off, “ explains Austin theatre favorite and Julius Caesar director Paul Norton. “I don’t look on this as being a feminist reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s play. If it has to be pigeon-holed at all, I’d be happiest simply regarding it as a production with an awful lot of non-traditional casting – and that’s always a good thing, isn’t it?”

The play centers on Marcus Brutus who is convinced by Caius Cassius that their democracy is threatened by the growing megalomania of one man, Julius Caesar. Rather than risk the threat of tyranny, he decides that the only course of action is to eliminate that threat by murdering him. Brutus loves Caesar but he loves Rome more, and is forced to make the painful decision to destroy a potential tyrant in order to preserve democracy.

Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar is based on the actual assassination of Julius Caesar, which occurred on March 15, 44 B.C. Like many of Shakespeare's plays that depict historical events, the source, in this case Roman historian, Plutarch, is altered for increased theatricality. (Compare Shakespeare’s theatrical depiction of these events with Hollywood’s depiction in TNT’s mini-series based on the history of Julius Caesar, airing just one day after ASF’s opening performance.)

On the heels of ASF’s critically acclaimed production of Henry V, Julius Caesar promises to further continue ASF’s dedication to keeping the Works of Shakespeare fresh, accessible, and alive.