Adapting Julius Caesar: Interview With Anna Coombs

Anna is Artistic Director and CEO of Tangle. Her directing credits for the company include Esther O’Toole’s THE CROSSING, co-produced with Nottingham Playhouse and Theatre 503, Cont Mhlanga’s WORKSHOP NEGATIVE in a English premiere, and her own adaptations of Christopher Marlowe’s DOCTOR FAUSTUS, Ben Jonson’s VOLPONE and William Shakespeare’s RICHARD THE SECOND.

Why did you decide to adapt JULIUS CAESAR?

I have always loved this play. The pace, and the tension between friends and politicians is electrifying. It has an urgency, and an unpredictability, that makes it a true thriller. If you don’t know the story, then you’ll be on the edge of your seat (hopefully). It also contains some brilliant speeches and wonderfully dramatic moments: Caesar’s seemingly unsuspicious cordiality to the men who are about to kill him, and Mark Antony’s infamous ‘turning’ of the crowd during his funeral exposition.

Tangle’s production budgets are small. We look after our artists well, but we don’t have the finances to engage large casts. There were various plays considered for this latest production but I had an instinct that JULIUS could be adapted for a small ensemble. It was a lengthy process of discovery, with several script drafts, to see if this really was possible.

How does your adaptation differ from the original version?

Firstly in the number of characters who play out the story. The unedited text has over 40 parts. The majority of Shakespeare’s original characters, especially the collection of conspirators (perhaps, most notably, Casca) hit the cutting room floor at an early stage, making the crux of the story an affair between close friends (who are also political colleagues), raising the stakes.

Secondly in the speed and pace of the story as it plays out. I cut the entire first scene! This scene is really just speculation – it would have ‘warmed up’ Shakespeare’s audiences, but for a modern audience, ready and waiting in their seats, it holds the action back.

As a result of making these bold decisions, this version moves incredibly fast. This adaptation remains truthful to Shakespeare’s own intended language. There are no modernisations, and the plot remains broadly intact - but we get right to the heart of the story very quickly.

Shakespeare was a brilliant writer and personally I think any adaptor who attempts to modernise his exquisite language – or change the intended storyline in order to contemporise it – is misguided and patronising to today’s audiences.

However, Shakespeare had no dramaturg. He was writing ‘to order’ as it were: he would pen a scene, and this would immediately be shared out line by line and rehearsed. Shakespeare wrote at a time when the idea of a ‘play’ with a ‘story’ (rather than an established moral tale with archetypical characters as in the Morality Plays) was very new. Dramaturgy was non-existent and there were no editors. So I see myself as an editor and dramaturg really, shaping his great words to suit a smaller cast size.

How does one begin an adaptation? What is your process?

I had a feeling that JULIUS would be performable with a small cast, but it was a challenge to get there. The first thing I did was to sit and read the whole original play in its entirety with John Pfumojena, our Associate Director. This reading aloud process was really helpful to get us into the heart of the story. It also helped me see that there were some characters that could be amalgamated into others, and other characters could be cut completely.

We then had two R&D (research and development) days spaced a few months apart. These were slow table reads with professional actors. These sessions helped identify further potential for cuts as well as some additions to bring back (it is easy to cut a crucial piece of information).

At a later stage, both our Associate Director John Pfumojena, as well as our Designer, Colin Falconer, looked carefully at the original text and brought back some key lines – good examples are Mark Antony’s negotiating with Brutus and Cassius after the murder (adapted from his servant’s lines) and the references to storms, and the elements, which are an important visual motif for our show.

JULIUS CAESAR was written over 400 years ago. How does this adaption relate to contemporary life/issues?

There is an obvious connection with modern political leaders and, particularly, modern dictators. Our leader, Caesar, has a desire for supreme rule (there is also evidence of a lot of publicity and public show). However, I don’t contemporise my productions by making intentional comparisons. I prefer the audiences to make up their own minds. I hope they will draw their own conclusions and connections to the parallels with contemporary life.

We are also interested in the relationship between JULIUS CAESAR and what we now know as ‘climate change’. This is reflected in the production design as well as in the role of Spirit Guide. Almost all the characters in the play neglect the omens and signs that are offered to them: storms, lightning, and supernatural happenings!

Caesar ignores his wife, Calpurnia’s foretelling of his murder. Cassius, who has openly defied the portents given by the storm in Act One, later makes this awful discovery: ‘…the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.’ It is only Brutus who takes the appearance – twice – of Caesar’s ghost, seriously. Most of our characters fail to heed the warnings given to them, and this has tragic consequences. For me, this is a good reflection on how we, in 2025, are ignoring the threat and long-term consequences of global climate change.

Who is your favourite character, and why?

All the charactervs are attractive to a theatre director, and hopefully to actors as well. They all have very natural human hopes and worries. They are also soldiers and politicians. During the play we see the various sides to each personality. This makes them very exciting to play.

Caesar is a fascinating character. He’s a real showman, but there are also moments when he demonstrates genuine fear and vulnerability. During the course of the play, audiences recognise Caesar as a public figure and a showman, but they also see glimpses of his private side, and his innermost anxieties and doubts. This is a compelling mix: the character ricochets from one extreme to another.

How does your adaptation use multiple languages?

At Tangle, we work with the actors to instinctively find lines that work well in other languages, often their indigenous language. During one of the R&D days we looked at the scene where Cinna the Poet is lynched. Cinna repeats back the questions he is asked in English, so we found that there is freedom and flexibility for the lynch mob to question Cinna in other languages: the meaning remains clear.

There’s also a technique called ‘shadowing’ when a line is expressed in another language and repeated (before or after) in English, but I am less keen on this approach. It did work well in our production of DOCTOR FAUSTUS: the three actors collectively performed Faustus’ first spell by repeating lines several times in different languages: English, Zulu and Shona.

Our production of JULIUS CAESAR is touring from 9 October - 15 November 2025. Find out more here.