Four stars (for the bits we saw)
Well, it was very good while it lasted.
But the Glasgow heavens opened as the conspirators gathered for Act III of this epic play.
Just as the knives were about to come out, the rain intervened and Caesar escaped a sticky end.
Such is the nature of open-air theatre, there is always a risk this will happen - and it did.
But not before 50 minutes of a gripping and entertaining production.
Brought up to date, there is not a whiff of toga in director Jennifer Dick’s version of the play.
The players are sharp-dressed and power-suited in modern political attire. Attache cases and clipboards are the props of choice.
Forceful
James Boal is a forceful presence as the Roman general and Claire Macallister is all bitterness and plotting anger as Caius Cassia.
The play opens with a mob running riot through the grassy ‘auditorium’ of the Botanic Garden stage, by the famous park hothouses.
They are dressed in Converse and canvas jackets, and handing out pro-Caesar flags. Things are getting rowdy.
The drama moves quickly. Performances are strong and clear.
Brutus, played by Adam Donaldson (one of several graduates of the Conservatoire of Scotland in the cast), is being leaned on to topple Caesar.
Just as the knives were about to come out, the rain intervened and Caesar escaped a sticky end.
Review
In the play, the storms are gathering and the omens are bad.
In Glasgow, the air is thick with another Muse (the three-piece rock band playing Bellahouston Park) and skies are increasingly leaden.
Things are not looking good on all fronts.
Then, just as the action is moving to Rome and the bloody mayhem of brutal assassination, the elements take over.
When the production manager walks onto to halt the performance, the audience knows the writing is on the wall.
And 10 minutes later, even as a gradually-sodden crowd remains seated and waiting for a possible, if improbable resumption, the show is cancelled.
But such is the appreciation for the first two acts of the play, a warm chorus of applause for the actors brings the curtain down on the night.
Flow
The weather should never be a surprise to anyone in Glasgow, and often you just have to go with the flow (yes, pun intended)
But it is not often you go to see a play knowing the outcome of the story, and then events confound the inevitable and the protagonist gets to live and walk away scot-free and fit to fight another day.
All hail Julius Caesar. And all hail Glasgow. Long may it rain.
