The masterpiece 'Julius X' at Folger Theatre

Yunyi Dai was the designer for the playbill cover for Julius X now on stage at  Folger Theatre

This is Harlem! This is Rome!

It is not necessary to be a Shakespeare scholar or a follower of Malcolm X to enjoy terrific theatre now on stage at the Folger Theatre. 

Julius X: A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is one of the best shows I’ve seen in Washington D.C. this year, thought-provoking and certain to appeal to all those who love the writings of the master wordsmith.  

The timing with today's political chaos is remarkable.

Brandon Carter, left, is Julius X and Greg Alverez Reid is Brutus in Folger Theatre's Julius X: A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare on stage through Oct. 26, 2025/By Erika Nizborski 

It's an excellent staging in a lively, edge-of-your seat presentation, engaging even to a laywoman, a non-Shakespearean scholar like me, initially intimidated by the seeming complexities of the subject matter.

Using text from the speeches of Malcolm X and William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Al Letson, poet and hip hop artist has amplified the tales of the two men with his own brand to produce a marvelous, intertwined script.

Letson draws comparisons between the ending of their lives and their assassinations by associates and others worried by threats the men posed to their group's leadership. 

Brandon Carter plays the lead role and must have spent hours studying film of Malcolm X to deliver his stunning performance. 

Indeed, after the murder of Julius, Carter enters a scene in an abbreviated role, this time, a humorous portrayal of an old man bent on trying to solve conflict, waving his cane to audience delight. 

The cast of Folger Theatre's Julius X: A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare on stage through Oct. 26, 2025/By Erika Nizborski 

The actors were powerful, but none overbearing, including the hated Brutus (Greg Alverez Reid) and his sidekick, Cassius (Jay Frisby) who succeeded in their quests to produce animosity and energize the crowd, the audience which joined the cast at the invitation of director Nicole Brewer who asked at the start of the show for our participation when needed.

We were only too happy to oblige, clap, and shout for Julius and boo and hiss the conniving Brutus.

More than the original playwright, Letson incorporates extra speaking parts for Calpurnia, Malcolm X's wife (Nikkole Salter) and Portia, Brutus's wife (Renee Elizabeth Wilson) who handled their roles with conviction and passion.

Abandoning his earlier weakness when he was overshadowed by Julius, Jonathan Del Palmer became a strong Marc Anthony who speaks vigorously when he commands the stage alone to say:

The evil that men do lives after them;
 
The good is oft interred with their bones;
Hath told you Julius was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault;
And grievously hath Julius answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest, —
For Brutus is an honorable man;
So are they all, all honorable men, —
Come I to speak in Julius's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honorable man.

Letson worked on his script for years, beginning when, as a youth, he was denied a role as Marc Anthony because of his skin color. He developed a love of Shakespeare and earlier, in the 7th grade, after reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X, those words remained, too.

Creative team members added immensely to the enjoyment of the show, like choreographer Shawn Short who wove fine dance design into the story.

Costumer Danielle Preston dresses the actors in mostly contemporary styling with Julius wearing the straight, dull apparel associated with memories of Malcolm X.

Porsche McGovern's lighting and Andrés Poch's projections  were outstanding, the projections often suggesting  mental turmoil and ... stormy weather.

In a pre-play interview posted at the Folger, director Brewer points to the play’s “medicinal value” which invites us to pause and reflect on where our communities, our cities, our country are headed, how our connections have been weakened and our divides strengthened, and she asks:
“Where have we been reticent in taking action, only to find ourselves facing more extreme outcomes later? Where have we lost trust and faith in each other?”

Other cast members are: Lilli Hokama, Gaelyn D. Smith, Shawn Sebastian Naar, and Dwayne Alistair Thomas.

Also on the creative team: Thom J. Woodward, sound; Isabel Simoes deCarvalho, props; and John “Ray” Proctor, dramaturg and voice and text coach.

What: Julius X: A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare by Al Letson

When: Now through October 26, 2025 with a masked performance, Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m.; relaxed performances, Oct. 12, 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 22, 2 p.m.; post-show discussion with the cast, Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m.; audio-described, Oct. 18, 2 p.m.; and open-captioned, Oct. 26, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Where: Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol Street, S. E. Washington, D.C. 20003. Enter at Third and East Capitol streets.

Tickets: Buy online, phone (202-544-7077), or at the box office. Tickets start at $20 with discounts for groups, persons under age 35, students, seniors, educators, members and family of the military. Those under age 4 are not permitted. 

Federal Employees: Buy and reserve up to two tickets for only $20 each through Oct. 5 using the code FEDERAL. Please bring proof of current or recent employment to Will Call.

Metro stops: Capitol South or Union Station

For more information: 202-544-4600 or info@folger.edu

patricialesli@gmail.com

Folger's fab 'Nell Gwynn' is delightful fare

 Alison Luff is Nell Gwynn at Folger Theatre whose hat is bigger than your hat/Photo by Brittany Diliberto, Bee Two Sweet Photography

Sex, tarts, and miscellany! 

So much of it is true.  The whole thing is a delight, I dare say. 

We have to thank King Charles II (1630-1685) for restoring theatre and fun, post-Puritans, to England. Had playwright Jessica Swale included all 13 of his mistresses in her play, we'd still be watching them at the theatre. 


As it was, she only included three, 'twas enough and spirited they are!

Alison Luff is Nell Gwynn and Quinn Franzen is Charles Hart in Folger Theatre's Nell Gwynn/Photo by Brittany Diliberto, Bee Two Sweet Photography
 
The king's wife, Queen Catherine (1638-1705) (Zoe Speas in the role and a musician in the show) stayed married to him 'til death did them part, but that's another story to be told anon. She is the angry woman in black, although in real life (Wikipedia), she comes across as rather mousy. Nevertheless, her witchiness (portrayed in Nell) is quite understandable, given that she had many competitors (a practice, I understand, which still continues to this day). 

Peter Lely (1618-1680), Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England, c. 1665/Wikimedia.org

R. J. Foster is the haughty king who does not overplay his role.

John Michael Wright (1617-1694), Portrait of Charles II in Garter Robes, National Portrait Gallery, London/Wikimedia Commons

Nell Gwynn, the play, is about Nell Gwynn (1650-1687), the actress (!) who is Alison Luff at Folger's, star of the king's stage and at the Folger, too.  

And what bloomin' buffoonery it all is!
  
At the Folger (the East Cost premiere) and in real life, Ms. Gwynn did have an amour, Charles Hart, acted by the dashing Quinn Franzen, who does his squiring duties with Ms. Nell quite handsomely and gets her to the stage on time.

It doesn't take long for Thomas Killigrew (Nigel Gore) theatre manager and actor's broker, to succumb to the marvelous abilities of Ms. Gwynn and put her up in the "lights" (had there been any  then).  

She's got talent!

An experienced actor, the most dynamic Mr. Christopher Dinolfo,  is Edward Kynaston, the female substitute in the theatre before King Charles II pardoned the women and let them act, too.  The nerve of it all!   Women acting as women! 

Mr. Dinolfo was on stage far too short a time.  He lost his parts.

The heartiest laughs sprang from the appearances by Catherine Flye, who has earned 13 (matching the king's mistress counts)  Helen Hayes Award nominations, winning one. She has dual Folger roles as Nancy, a lady-in-waiting of sorts, and, briefly, as Nell's mom.

Her lines and mannerisms produce gales of glee, her roles crying for smiles all around as soon as the audience gets used to her antics and one-liners. (It didn't take long to realize she was the constant comic.)

A "tenured" mistress, Lady Castlemaine (Regina Aquino who plays dual roles) has her charms ripped asunder by new women on the block, including the prissy French token, Louise de Kéroualle (also Ms. Aquino) who exudes hilarity the short time she sashays down the promenade in regal "Frenchiness."

Because the audience is busy keeping up with the quick dialogue and fast scene changes, the excellent costuming by Mariah Anzaldo Hale does not receive the sufficient attention the designs warrant. They indeed help make the show and are breathtaking, under closer scrutiny by audience members who sit in proximity near the aisle where actors parade up and down.

Tony Cisek, set designer, hangs rich, red velvety drapes on either side of the stage which close and open and define the backdrop for some scenes which shift from front stage to back stage and back again with characters moving fore and aft.  (You have to be there.) 

The last ear count heard strolling musicians on banjos, guitars, mandolins, accordion, triangle, cello, and (I think) keyboard, all who added pleasant depth without dominating. I can't image the show without this music and applaud the composer, Kim Sherman.

Go and enjoy! You won't be the worse for it, but, like me, laughing lots more! I can't wait to see Ms. Swale's film version of Nell, now on the writing block.

Other members of the cast are Caitlin Cisco as Rose Gwynn, Nell's sister; Kevin Collins, musician; Michael Glenn, John Dryden, playwright who rapidly scribbled down lines for Nell Gwynn and was named poet laureate by the king.

Also, Jeff Keogh, Lord Arlington, the king's secretary of state; Alex Michell, who starts and ends the play theatrically.

Directing is Robert Richmond, who is also the chair and director of the University of South Carolina's department of theatre and dance.
 
Other members of the creative team are Andrew F. Griffin, lighting; Matt Otto, sound; Diane Healy, production stage manager; Jessica Short, assistant stage manager; Michele Osherow, resident dramaturg, Janet Alexander Griffin, artistic producer; and Beth Emelson, associate artistic producer.  

What: Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale

When: Now through March 10, 2019

Where: Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol Street, S. E. Washington, D.C. 20003

Tickets: Buy online, by phone (202-544-7077), or at the box office. Tickets start at $42 with discounts for groups, persons under age 30, students, seniors, educators, members and family of the military.

Open-captioned performances: Sunday, March 3, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., sponsored by Vinton and Sigrid Cerf

Free Folger Friday, March 1, 6 p.m. Before Nell Gwynn at 8 p.m., scholar Deborah Payne and actors will speak and share excerpts from the long-lost manuscript, The Country Gentleman, found in the Folger archives in 1973.
 
Metro station: Capitol South or Union Station

For more information: 202-544-4600 or info@folger.edu

patricialesli@gmail.com

Folger's 'Timon of Athens,' a dark tale

 
Ian Merrill Peakes is surrounded by creditors in Timon of Athens now at the Folger/Photo by Theresa Wood


If this is a difficult William Shakespeare play, those watching at the Folger Theatre never let on, for they sat in rapt suspension on the edges of their seats, glued to the manipulations and greed of "friends" on stage who surround Timon of Athens. 

Timon is the sun around whom mankind swirls until it doesn't.

By a series of stealthy, slow motions, the evildoers abandon their money source, Timon, when they learn they cannot extract more from him who gives to them willfully, while he ignores warning signs from the only truthful person of the lot, his faithful steward, Flavius, who observes Timon's soaring debts.

"Every man has his fault, and honesty is his," claims Lucullus, one of the users. 

 And then what? 

Will his pals dole out a wee bit to help their friend survive after all he has given to them? 

Not on their lives.

“Has friendship such a faint and milky heart, It turns in less than two nights?” a servant asks. 

When truth finally arrives as Flavius foretold, Timon cannot take it any more and escapes to the forest to seek solace, find answers, and berate himself, all the while experiencing increasing enmity of all that is mankind.

"Timon will to the woods, where he shall find
Th’unkindest beast more kinder than mankind," he says

But even in solitude, in the woods, his pessimism prevails to envelop nature's beauty which Timon is unable to see, consumed by his detest of all things living. In his new environment he projects man's dishonesty and deceit upon his surroundings.

Has it come to this?

 Ian Merrill Peakes stars in Timon of Athens now at the Folger/Photo by Theresa Wood

At Opera Lafayette last night I actually met a misanthrope like Timon!  One I never would have recognized had I had not seen the play and read more about the man.  I was stunned to realize these people actually exist. (Call me naive.) She, a scientist for EPA (is it any wonder?), who said to a stranger she could never see a play again because all human beings are the same, lowlifes and cunning, who take her down.  ("Down"?  Further than she is?)  

Back to "make believe" at the Folger: Robert Richmond directs Ian Merrill Peakes as Timon in a knockout performance.

The play's futuristic, colored lighting in strings of squares and rectangles (by Andrew Griffin) outline the dark, stark set (by Tony Cisek) which is designed like a cold, bizarre space ship, the inside of a tomb, lacking any color save the blue coats (the tomb's quilted linings) worn by unearthly beings on the make, occupiers of the premises. 

Haunting sounds full of tension and edge (by Matt Otto)  echo throughout this underground aboveground.

Why host one of the master's most unpopular plays? An unfinished play, too.  It's not all about the money.

This town is full of Shakespeare lovers, and the near sellouts of the remaining play nights are proof.

According to program notes, Timon has gained traction in the last 20 years. Shakespeare and his likely collaborator, Thomas Middleton, wrote it probably between 1605 and 1606 about the time King James I and the upper classes were spending wildly, heavily in debt, when Shakespeare was working on Anthony and Cleopatra.

Wikipedia says there is no evidence Timon was performed during Shakespeare's lifetime (1564-1616). 

Shakespeare partially derived his tale from Plutarch's Lives, one of his favorite sources, which says Timon from Athens had a reputation as a misanthropist. His father was a rich man who bestowed gifts upon friends who left when the money ran out, and Timon found himself working in the fields.

Supposedly, Timonium, Maryland up the road about an hour, was named by a woman in mourning after her wealthy landowner of a husband died at a young age.  The town is the burial site of Vice President Spiro Agnew (1918-1996) who served under President Richard Nixon before Agnew resigned in disgrace, another tragedy,  but I digress.

Notable authors who have utilized Timon are Thomas Hardy, Karl Marx, Charlotte Bronte, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Dickens, and Vladimir Nabokov who used a portion for his book title:

"The moon's an arrant thief,
And her pale fire she snatches from the sun," Timon says.

 Herman Melville considered Timon "to be among the most profound of Shakespeare's plays," according to Wikipedia. That it is!

Also starring are Louis Butelli, Aliyah Caldwell, Maboud Ebrahimzadeh, John Floyd, Amanda Forstrom, Sean Fri, Eric Hissom, Andhy Mendez, Antoineet Robinson, Michael Dix Thomas, and Kathryn Tkel.

Members of the creative team include Mariah Hale, costumes; Francesca Talenti, projection; Michele Osherow, resident dramaturg; Diane Healy, production stage manager; Megan Ball, assistant stage manager, Joe Isenberg, fight director, Michele Osherow, resident dramaturg, and Janet Alexander Griffin, artistic producer.

This is the last of the Folger's productions for the 2016-17 series. Anthony and Cleopatra opens next year's season on October 10, 2017 under Mr. Richmond's direction.

What: Timon of Athens

When: Now through June 11, 2017

Where: Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol Street, S. E. Washington, D.C. 20003

Tickets: Buy online, by phone (at 202-544-7077 from 12 to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday with extended hours on performance days), or at the box office (with the same hours as phone service). Tickets start at $25 with discounts for groups, students, seniors, military, and educators.

Metro station: Capitol South or Union Station

For more information: 202-544-4600 or info@folger.edu

patricialesli@gmail.com

Young troupe rescues 'Two Gentlemen of Verona'

Emily Young is the maid, Lucetta, and Jessie Austrian is her mistress, Julia, in William Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen in Verona, now on stage at the Folger Theatre through May 25, 2014/Photo by Theresa Wood

In the first act, they needed help. 

It's the script which is not quite as lively as throwing torn love letters up in the air with feverish frequency like the action in Folger Theatre's latest William Shakespeare production, Two Gentlemen of Verona, but it's all in good fun.

Zachary Fine is Valentine walking through one of the many letter showers in William Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen in Verona, now on stage at the Folger Theatre through May 25, 2014/Photo by Theresa Wood

The performers who bring what is generally considered the playwright's weakest (and perhaps his first) play to life with delight are the six-members of New York's Fiasco Theater, mostly graduates of the Brown University/Trinity Rep theatre arts program (with an outlier from the University of Tennessee) who launched their own company when they could not find jobs.  And what a happy ensemble it is.

Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head

And that was before.

In multiple articles the New York Times has praised the mastery of the New York City teachers and actors who make their debut in Washington with the smallest cast of any Shakespeare play .

Two Gentlemen is deemed a comedy and in two scenes, the actors had to take a few seconds to regain composure. Andy Grotelueschen stifled laughter when he briefly appeared as a maid in appropriate garb and matching cap which contrasted nicely with his thick red beard and made the audience howl. 

He's a maid? Andy Grotelueschen has multiple roles in William Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen in Verona, now on stage at the Folger Theatre through May 25, 2014/Photo by Theresa Wood

Grotelueschen is one of three who have multiple roles. Emily Young is Sylvia (pursued by the "two gentlemen") and Lucetta, who is maid for Julia (Jessie Austrian, also the co-director), who is the (temporary) love of one of the two gentlemen, Proteus (Noah Brody) who becomes the subject of ridicule by his best friend, Valentine (Zachary Fine) who mocks Proteus for being blinded by love of Julia and neglect of his own worldly pursuits.  Say what?

Says Proteus:

I leave myself, my friends and all, for love.
Thou, Julia, thou hast metamorphosed me,
Made me neglect my studies, lose my time,
War with good counsel, set the world at nought;
Made wit with musing weak, heart sick with thought.

(Does any of this sound familiar? If not, forsooth and alas, you have never experienced love.)

Haunted by Valentine's words, Proteus follows Valentine to Milan where Proteus becomes enchanted with thoughts of capturing his best pal's gal, Sylvia. But her father, the Duke (Paul L. Coffey), has other ideas and wants Sylvia to link with the wealthy but undesirable Thurio (Grotelueschen).  Suspicious of a relationship between his daughter and Valentine, the Duke keeps Sylvia locked in a tower to thwart ambitions not his own.

Valentine tells Proteus he intends to climb a ladder to free Sylvia from the tower, but Proteus betrays Valentine and squeals the plan to the Duke who banishes that unwanted suitor.

So much for love and friendship.  Which comes first?

Best friends forever are Valentine (Zachary Fine), left, and Proteus (Noah Brody) in William Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen in Verona, now on stage at the Folger Theatre through May 25, 2014/Photo by Theresa Wood

Meanwhile, Julia dresses up like a boy (it is Shakespeare) to spy on Proteus in Milan and find out what's going on.

She dreams of him that has forgot her love;
You dote on her that cares not for your love.
'Tis pity love should be so contrary;
And thinking of it makes me cry 'alas!'

If this sounds confusing, it is Shakespeare.  (It is always advantageous for us non-Shakespeare scholars to read ahead to gain some knowledge of who does what, to whom, where and when. And is there money involved?) 

The ending is happy, and all is well that ends well.

It is not a long play, lasting just about two hours with intermission.

The set is slim to almost non-existent (increasingly favored by the critics, it seems), and the characters never disappear but exit the wooden semi-circular stage to a slightly lower level where they sit in strategically placed chairs at 9, 10, 12 and 3 o'clock positions and watch the action or play the guitar, banjo, cello and other instruments, adding welcomed period ambiance to the play.  And they pull props for the next scene from large baskets which straddle their seats.  (James Kronzer is scenic designer.)

There are no costume changes other than additions or removals.  Designer Whitney Locher dresses the men mostly in F. Scott Fitzgerald beiges and whites with vests and spats (indeed, Mr. Fine does suggest Mr. Fitzgerald with his sleek hair), and Ms. Young wears a simple, cream-colored dress with appliques (Kate Middleton would love) which works well when covered by an apron and a maid's cap on her head when Lucetta is speaking, and shed when she becomes Sylvia.  

Ms. Young's transition from one character to another mirror the effective changes the other actors make.  (Coffey is also Speed, Valentine's servant, and Grotelueschen, Lance or Launce (both are used) who works for Proteus.)  That the quality of acting is excellent is expected and realized.

It is hard to grasp that a "weak" Shakespeare exists, but for all the playwright's aficionados in the land, this is one they'll mostly love, like the Fiasco members whose exuberance is palpable and easily transfers to the audience (after the first act).

O, how this spring of love resembleth
The uncertain glory of an April day,
Which now shows all the beauty of the sun,
And by and by a cloud takes all away!

Ben Steinfeld co-directs, and Tim Cryan is lighting director.

After they complete Two Gentlemen, Fiasco performs Cymbeline at the Folger from May 28 through June 1.

What:  Two Gentlemen of Verona

When: Now through May 25, 2014

Where: Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol Street, S. E. Washington, D.C. 20003

Tickets: $40 - $72 with discounts for groups, students, seniors, military, and educators

Metro station: Capitol South or Union Station

For more information: 202.544.7077 or 202.544.4600

Other Two Gentlemen events at the Folger are:

Pre-Show Talk
Wednesday, May 7, 6:30 p.m.
A scholarly discussion of the play with Folger Director Michael Witmore and a light fare reception. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets ($15).

Post-Show Talk with Cast
Thursday, May 8
Following the 7:30 p.m. performance

Folger Friday
Friday, May 9, 6 p.m.
Poets Michael Gushue and Regie Cabico respond to the play with original works.  Free

James Shapiro, Shakespeare author and scholar
Monday, May 12, 7:30 p.m.
Shapiro will discuss his newest book, Shakespeare in America, with a reception to follow ($15).

Open-Captioned
Sunday, May 18, 2 p.m.
The box office has details (202.544.7077).

Special Preview Screening
Monday, May 19, at 7 p.m.
Still Dreaming, the story of a remarkable version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream staged by Fiasco directors Brody and Steinfeld and a lively group of elderly entertainers from New Jersey’s Lillian Booth Actors Home. Reserve here ($20).

Exhibition in the Great Hall
Now through June 15
Shakespeare's The Thing, an exhibition in celebration of his 450th birthday which demonstrate his influence on the visual arts, performance and scholarship.

For more area productions and reviews, check out DC Metro Theater Arts.

patricialesli@gmail.com