`JULIUS CEASAR' STILL MAKING POLITICAL POINTS (REVIEW)

If lines in "Julius Caesar" are among Shakespeare's most familiar, it's because the political envy and lust for power the play portrays remain very modern.

There is still a tide in the affairs of men, there's always someone who loved Caesar not less but Rome more, and the unkindest cuts of all keep occurring. Add on a bloody coup d'etat, assisted suicides and murderous vengeance and you pretty much describe the state of affairs in various spots around the world.

Virginia-based Shenandoah Shakespeare Express presented "Julius Caesar" to high school students from across the region Wednesday in a performance at Academic Auditorium.

As inventive and modern as SSE is, performing with the house lights up in all black and jack boots and with very minimal sets, the audience Wednesday was at turns attentive and restive throughout "Julius Caesar."

Some of the best moments came when John Harrell held the stage as the plotting Cassius. Harrell projected a gravity appropriate to the deed he was contemplating. Aye, he had not only a lean and hungry look but once pointed to the rear of the auditorium where his tents supposedly were positioned and many people in the audience turned around.

Also a strong presence was James Daniels, the newest member of the cast, as Caesar's loyal friend Marc Antony.

Sikeston native Alden Field, who played eight roles in the production, often added a humorous touch, and Julie Paparella as Calphurnia and Heather Peak as Portia invested the play's limited female roles with real feeling.

The performances of a number of the other actors sometimes suffered because the audience was unable to make out their lines. The words that flowed so beautifully when SSE performed at acoustically superior Rose Theatre two years ago sometimes were lost

Chris Kohn as Casca, for instance, had a way about him on stage but seldom could be understood.

It was a shame because the Bard's poetry -- "Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods" -- is so sublime.

Whether due to the young actors' lack of experience, outsized Academic Auditorium or perhaps dead spots on the stage, the result was that high school attention spans at times wavered.

What's best about SSE is its inventiveness. Actors and actresses play drum rolls at the rear of the stage to announce portentous moments, upstage actors sometimes portray the words being uttered downstage, the play opens with the actors and the actresses in a circle singing what sounded like a Gregorian chant while some audience members sit on stage, and from time to time characters make forays into the audience. All this presents Shakespeare in the intimate and accessible manner it was first performed.

One major gaffe occurred Wednesday: Marnee Watts' suicide as Titinius drew titters of laughter, primarily because she killed herself with such gusto. But, as one girl behind me said, that's not funny.

The performers were greeted with rousing, deserved applause at the end, but here's hoping some of the acoustic difficulties are compensated for in time for the next shows.