Julius Caesar and his senates have come to Norwich, presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Here from the 6 – 10 Jun, Shakespeare’s words are being heard from the stage 4 centuries since they were first performed.
On their seventh touring location since leaving Stratford Upon Avon, Nigel Barrett (Julius Caesar) and Annabel Baldwin (Cassius) gave us an exclusive insight into being an RSC actor, and what it means to control a stage and tell a story.
Every story begins somewhere, and for Nigel, it was when he was a 16-year-old schoolboy in Wales. “We [Nigel and his friend] both wanted to be actors, and we got the train on our own to Stratford and watched some shows and I remember sitting there and going wow.” Now professional, to be on stage “is a great privilege,” for Nigel, whilst highlighting his love for each “beautiful theatre” that he has worked in.
No matter how experienced an actor is, there will always be a different story to tell with each and every performance and character. “I think to be playing this part is stepping into ways of being and ways of seeing the world which feel very unfamiliar to me,” said Annabel.
How you come across on stage is what can make or break a performance, so both Nigel and Annabel are taking their roles and “going on a journey” with them. “I started off wanting to just play with the people on the stage, which I still want to do,” said Annabel. When acting, Nigel believes that you need to love your character to be your character, even if you are the ‘villain.’ “I really wanted to flip the traditional serving of this character” said Nigel, in a way so the audience were conflicted about how they felt towards him.
“It’s not playing this monstrous patriarchal abuser, everything can be wrong about him and his behaviour, but if it’s born out of love then it’s really odd for the audience, and then maybe there’s something to learn”
“Imagine if this government [in the play] were actually quite progressive and quite interesting, and there were all different types of people in the cabinet. This man was sort of a good populous who did love the people, but he was getting out of control because of his ego and was becoming a king […] I wanted people to be conflicted about my death”
As RSC actors, Shakespeare in massively important to Annabel and Nigel. It is still a huge part of life, just as much in this century as any other. “In the same way that he was writing was about things that were going on at the time through the gaze of another story, were sort of doing the same thing by using his work and going look; it keeps happening we keep doing the same thing.”
Nigel and Annabel have a passion for acting and Shakespeare, and you can go and see them at work in Julius Caesar at Norwich Theatre Royal until Sat 10 Jun. Click here for more information and to book or call the Box Office on 01603 630 000.
By Cameron Noble
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