All-black Julius Caesar showcases African and Caribbean artistic excellence

Adapted and directed by Anna Coombs with John Pfumojena’s original music performed live on stage, it offers a high-energy production bringing African-inspired storytelling into the heart of ancient Rome.

Remiel Farai plays Brutus while the others multi-role: “It is just five of us but I'm sure that if you came to see the play you would think that there are a lot more people than five because it is just so fleshed out so well. You do it with physicality but also it's just the talent of the actors.”

Clothes are crucial to the differentiation, all part of a very different look at the play: “The way we are doing the play is just so different to how you would imagine this play ever having been done before. We are incorporating African art and culture which gives it a different feel and we have got the most amazing professional artists that are working to incorporate that and we've got a dancer choreographer who is helping us to incorporate African movement in ways that you just would not expect. It really just makes a lot of sense for what is happening and we've got the music as well, some beautiful tribal African sounds that really enhance what is going on. And we are also using our own heritage to enhance our performances. The costumes are being made in such a way that they complement where we come from. I'm half Zimbabwean and half Nigerian and I've got a costume that complements that.”

It is a piece that you don't often see on stage: “I would say it is one of Shakespeare's greatest thrillers but I think the reason it is not done so much on stage is that it could be done in a way that doesn't make it as entertaining as it could be. There is a lot of faff at the start. And all that could be a bit boring for audiences but that faff has gone in this adaptation. It has been adapted in a way that you just don't have a chance to think about what is going to happen next. You will be absolutely on the edge of your seat all the way through.”

As for the character of Brutus: “I don't think there are enough words to describe him. He is first and foremost a man of honour and everything that he does is for the good of Rome. For me as an actor I have to find that part of myself: where does the honour sit within me. That's the core of Brutus. He does betray his friend but he does it for the greater good. When you play Brutus you can't play into the malice of killing someone. He kills Julius Caesar who is his friend. He loves Julius Caesar but the fact is that he loves Rome more. Killing Julius Caesar is not something that he wants to do but he feels it is something that he has to do.”