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Philly Fringe: 'Julius Caesar' shows a dictator's fall, inside and out

These days, it's not so easy to shock the public. But somehow, Italian director Romeo Castellucci, who this year made his third appearance in the curated arm of the Philly Fringe festival, keeps finding new ways to do so. In Julius Caesar. Spared Parts, which ran Sept. 22-24, Castellucci presents three performers, each of whom "orates" Caesar's misfortune, but none actually speaks, at least not in the traditional sense.

A scene from Romeo Castellucci's "Julius Caesar. Spared Parts" in a performance in Rome.
A scene from Romeo Castellucci's "Julius Caesar. Spared Parts" in a performance in Rome.Read moreLUCA DEL PIA

These days, it's not so easy to shock the public. But somehow, Italian director Romeo Castellucci, who this year made his third appearance in the curated arm of the Philly Fringe festival, keeps finding new ways to do so. In

Julius Caesar. Spared Parts

, which ran Sept. 22-24, Castellucci presents three performers, each of whom "orates" Caesar's misfortune, but none actually speaks, at least not in the traditional sense.

In every way, it's a stripped-down production. It's held in an empty Navy Yard building, and the room is white, surrounded by white curtains. Its narrative, such as it is, is broken into three sections. In the first, a Roman citizen identified as "Vskij" (Sergio Scarlatella), wearing a white toga, discusses the state of his state.

Perhaps to emphasize the idea of the body politic, he does this after inserting an endoscope into his nostril (yes, on stage) and snaking it into his throat. The result, projected onto one of the curtains behind him (and translated from his spoken Italian into English titles), is an internal view of the speech. His larynx becomes a character, convulsing when he laughs, struggling through congealed spittle when he roars with passion.

The second section depicts a weakened, silent, elderly Caesar (Gianni Plazzi) clad in a red robe. He communicates his anger, sadness, and frustration with his eye movements. Plazzi is wired beneath his robe, and each slow, meager step is accompanied by a giant's rumbling thud, each swoop of his arm brings a ferocious whooshing.

Finally, Shakespeare's version of Mark Antony's funeral speech in his own Julius Caesar is performed by an actor (Dalmazio Masini) in a white toga with a red sash. He delivers the speech - one of the best known in the English language - through his laryngectomy hole. This time, the whooshing is quiet, and when he picks up Caesar's mantle (here, represented by a sheet of plastic), its rustling matches Masini's. He says he will "Show you sweet Caesar's wounds . . . and let them speak for me."

The only colors represented - besides the actors' flesh, both inside and out - are red, white, and black in the form of a draft horse whose side is painted with "Mene tekel peres," the enigmatic writing on the wall at Belshazzar's feast in the Book of Daniel, which Daniel interprets as meaning "The days of your kingdom are numbered."

So, yes, shocking throughout, but especially so here and now, even though the piece is several years old. There's always a dark humor to Castellucci's work, which certainly helps the medicine go down. As a voter registration drive, it's probably pretty effective. Also, as always in a Castellucci piece, as a comment on the human condition and our need for structure and power, it's terrifying.

Wendy_Rosenfield@yahoo.com

@WendyRosenfield

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