Thursday, May 7, 1998
Caesar rules in Lost Dog production
THEATER: Director’s love of authentic Shakespeare evident with
show’s style
By Michael Gillette
Daily Bruin Contributor
An emperor in khakis. Conspirators in shiny suits. Soldiers in
camouflage, toting guns. The UCLA alum-run Lost Dog Productions’
new staging of Shakespeare’s "Julius Caesar," which runs at West
L.A.’s Wooden-O Theater though May 23, has dressed its eternal tale
of fate and assassination up for modern times.
But purists take heart! Before you write off this staging as yet
another Shakespeare-in-borrowed-rags concoction, you should give it
a listen. Nearly all the actors who make up the cast of this
"Caesar" have logged time in UCLA’s Shakespeare Reading and
Performance Group.
These actors and literature lovers started Lost Dog Productions
in 1993 when they staged "Twelfth Night," and from that time on
they’ve maintained a commitment to Shakespeare’s texts that ground
their stagings of the plays in a welcome (and all too often
lacking) proficiency.
"Everything is the text," says director Arthur Milliken,
explaining his group’s approach. "Shakespeare uses words instead of
sets, instead of backdrops. He doesn’t have furniture. He has
words, words, words. So I put a great deal of care into the words.
It’s not about a ‘Shakespearian delivery’ necessarily. It’s about
finding the words and the meaning that most speak to us. And also
being careful about the meter, the line and the pentameter."
This approach, applying care while avoiding solemnity,
characterizes the entirety of this fast-moving, eminently competent
production. Casca, as played by Brian Willis, is as funny as he is
blunt. Brutus (Matt Yamashita) is both sober and violent. And Mark
Antony, played by Amanda Michaels, is among the "most respected
women in Rome."
The modern touches, such as tape recorders, propaganda flyers
and stunt-casting don’t distract the playgoer in this production
because they are merely well-integrated pieces in a superbly
orchestrated whole. There is no gimmickry involved, and the show
never loses sight of its story.
Actor Ron Garcia, who plays the part of Caesar, attributes Lost
Dog’s facility with the material to a shared love of the Bard.
"(Milliken) really loves Shakespeare. He really cares, and I think
that makes a big difference for a director to really care about
what they’re doing. And all the actors really love the work.
There’s no glory in this. They’re doing it because they want
to."
"Julius Caesar" is Milliken’s second effort as a director with
Lost Dog. His first go came last year with an unorthodox "Henry V."
Listening to Milliken describe the production, one can understand
both the group’s ability to stay afloat in the crowded, unrewarding
sea of L.A. theater, and their success at staging dense,
sophisticated material.
"When we did ‘Henry V’ there were eight actors playing 30
roles," Milliken says. "The set was a city park, and the actors
walked into this park and started grabbing clothes off clotheslines
and digging through trash cans for their props, and the opening
chorus comes out and says, ‘O, for a muse of fire that would, etc.’
If only we had the real thing, but we don’t, right?
"We have to rely on your imagination. Audience, please, imagine
with us this story, because without you we have no play. And really
all of Shakespeare is about that. We’re low budget. We’re not going
to take it on location. We’re not going to have real sub-machine
guns on stage. But hopefully, with your imagination, we can tell
this story anyway."
This combination of a trust in the play with a trust in the
audience is what makes Lost Dog’s "Caesar" watchable and
satisfying. The attitude gives them the freedom to be rollicking
where other productions might be embalmed, and that approach will
make Shakespeare modern in a way that no number of sub-machine guns
could.
THEATER: "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. Wooden-O
Theater Annex, 2207 Federal Ave. For more information, call (310)
313-2040.