What can be avoided whose end is purposed by the mighty gods?

The people of Rome give Caesar an ecstatic welcome after he defeats his enemies in a savage civil war. But the senators who have shared power in the republic now fear that he wants to be supreme leader. They hatch a desperate plot to bring him down – sealing their own fate in the process.

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a story of charismatic leaders, political plots and the fickleness of crowds that is completely recognisable in the politics of his day and ours. The Abbey Shakespeare Players drew on those modern echoes in a tense, vital production, stripped to its essentials.

After an unprecedented break in our run in 2020, this was the 34th annual production by the Abbey Shakespeare Players. By kind courtesy of the owners, Joseph and Anne-Marie Rainsbury, our performance took place in the private home of Pen y Star, next to the Abbey.

In memory of Mike Hall, 1939–2021

Have you the lion's part written?
Pray you, if it be, give it me, for I am slow of study.
— Mike as Snug the Joiner, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2013

This production was dedicated to the memory of Mike Hall, the Miller at Y Felin, who was a founder member of our company, a kind host to us all and someone we dearly loved.

Video

Many thanks to Charlotte Munro for filming our first night's performance, available to watch below: