Julius Caesar, Roundhouse London

Originally written in 1599, William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar will be coming to the Roundhouse London in the new year, celebrating the 412th anniversary of the play (I think the 412th is Uranium in anniversary stakes). Anyway, the play is obviously produced by the Royal Shakespeare Society and looks like the epic it should be.

For anyone that doesn’t know (me. Thanks internet) Julius Caesar isn’t actually the star of the show, that role goes to the main protagonist, Marcus Brutus (played by Sam Troughton, fresh off the back of his roles in BBC’s Robin Hood and Aliens vs. Preditor). Wrestling with the conflicting ideals of patriotism, honour and friendship, Brutus is embroiled in a conspiracy to prevent Caesar from turning the Roman Empire into a monarchy under himself.

The conspiracy builds quickly up to the infamous 3rd scene in which Caesar (played by Greg Hicks) is assassinated at the Roman senate. Brutus is last to stick the knife in, leading to the most renowned quote from the play, in which Caesar is shocked to find that his friend has also conspired against him, saying, “Et tu, Brute?”. What follows is more tragedy as the actions of the conspirators turn upon them following Mark Anthony’s rousing, “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” speech.

The play starts from 6th January 2011 and finishes shortly after on the 5th January 2011, so if a tragedy is what you’re looking for to start the New Year, Julius Caesar is probably a good shout.