Portia's Julius Caesar

Portia’s Julius Caesar represents a radical adaption of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. With a focus on the voices and perspectives of the female characters, this play follows the stories of Portia and Calpurnia, two powerful women married to Rome's most influential men, Brutus and Caesar. While Calpurnia makes sacrifices to the gods to conceive for the first time, Portia is battling to understand her experience as a mother within a politically influential family.

Portia’s Julius Caesar is a provocative work of theatre that explores historical as well as contemporary ideas of fertility, female empowerment, and familial ties alongside the historical reality of political uprisings. The play delves into familiar dramatical themes as it is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, but it juxtaposes the essence of the original text with all that has happened in the world since 1599, when Shakespeare adapted this story from 44 B.C.

Prior to the production audience members were invited to engage with the virtual and/or physical engagement space. Doors will opened 30 minutes prior to the performance so the audience could engage with the installation that reflects Portia’s Julius Caesar theatrical points of emphasis. In the theatre gallery, spectators were invited to immerse themselves in a thematic display meant to extend the world of the play to the world right in front of them.