Watch our British Sign Language synopsis of Julius Caesar.

Shakespeare regularly explored how power affects the individual and Julius Caesar is a political thriller which explores this theme. His main inspiration was Plutarch’s ‘Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans’, written 150 years after Caesar’s death. The result is a gripping and tragic play about the conspiracy against Caesar, his assassination and the defeat of his conspirators.

CAESAR TRIUMPHANT

 Julius Caesar returns to Rome after winning a war against political rival, Pompey, and the citizens want to celebrate his victory by giving him new titles and honours. However, Rome is a republic, governed by elected representatives (the senate) and Caesar’s new popularity worries some senators who fear that too much power held by one man would create a dictatorship. A plot starts to form to murder Caesar…

THE PLOT

 Caius Cassius visits his well-respected friend, Marcus Brutus, to gain his support in getting rid of Caesar. Brutus is a decent man who is close to Caesar and does not want him murdered but Cassius persuades him it’s for the good of the republic. Brutus rejects Cassius' suggestion that Mark Antony, a close friend of Caesar, should also be killed. Brutus’s wife, Portia, sees him meeting secretly with the conspirators. She knows Brutus is troubled but he refuses to open up to her.

THE ASSASSINATION

 Caesar ignores pleas from his wife, Calpurnia, to stay at home. It is the Ides of March and Caesar has been warned by a Soothsayer about this date (15 March). He arrives at the senate house where Brutus, Cassius and their co-conspirators surround him and kill him. At Caesar's funeral, Brutus tells the citizens he did it for the good of Rome. However, Mark Antony speaks next and turns the crowd against Brutus and the conspirators. The crowd becomes an angry mob and the conspirators flee for their lives.

A NEW ROME

 Mark Antony and Caesar's nephew, Octavius, take command of Rome and lead an army against the conspirators. Brutus and Cassius find themselves lost in a world of chaos and superstition - not what they planned. Brutus is haunted by Caesar’s ghost and, with their armies defeated, he and Cassius take their own lives rather than be captured.

“We asked ourselves what a proto-utopian government system in the near future might look like. Ours is diverse, with an equal gender split, different gender identities and a woman of colour playing Brutus. It explores how different intersectionalities impact the image of power. Especially having two women as leaders of the conspiracy, how might that overthrow of power look on different bodies?”                         

- Chloe Christian, Assistant Director, Julius Caesar, RSC 2023

This physical activity introduces the political scene in Rome and helps students visually and physically explore the meaning of the political terms involved and the power they represent. [You will need: a large, clear space.]

•  Ask your students to walk briskly around the space without touching. Encourage them to ‘balance’ this space by spotting an empty section of floor and moving into it. Then call ‘FREEZE’.
• On FREEZE, ask your students to get into pairs and create a still image of a SERVANT & MASTER. Count down from 5 to encourage them to make quick instinctive decisions.
• Ask them to walk round the space again. On FREEZE, ask them to make groups of 5. This time, ask them to create a frozen image of a DICTATORSHIP. Compare images round the room. Repeat the exercise with the word: MONARCHY. (Discuss any terms that are new to them). Compare these images to those of DICTATORSHIP.
• Now organise your students into a big circle, sitting down. Invite 5 volunteers to form their image of DICTATORSHIP in the middle of the circle. Encourage the group to use more volunteers to make this image stronger.
• Now invite the group to turn this image into a REPUBLIC using any knowledge they have of the play.
• When the image has been finalised, challenge them to decide if the image is a positive one. If so, can they turn their REPUBLIC into a negative image? A bad republic?
• Ask your volunteers to sit down and invite any students who haven’t volunteered yet to create an image of A GOOD MONARCHY. Again, they can recruit more volunteers to strengthen their image. Challenge them to turn this image into a BAD MONARCHY.
• As a group, discuss the difference between the images: Is a bad monarchy similar to a dictatorship? Is it possible to have a good dictatorship? Or a bad republic? What does this tell us about the fears that Cassius and Brutus have?

This physical activity introduces the main plot points of the story and encourages students to fill in the gaps using their knowledge of the play and/or imagination. [You will need: Resource A: ‘Julius Caesar in Plot Points’ in the Resource section at the end of this page, scissors, paper, pens.]

A) Timeline

• Cut up the 10 plot points and mix them up so they are not in order.
• Divide your students into 10 groups and hand each group ONE of the 10 plot points (with smaller groups, hand out more than one).
• Invite your groups to arrange the plot points in order of when they think they happen in the play across the room, spread out, creating a timeline of events. (If you don’t have a large, clear space, this can be done on a wall or white board).
• Once the group are confident of the order of events, ask each student to stand by the plot point they think is the most important in the play. (Or put a red mark by the plot point if on the board.)
• Discuss the results of their choices: Is everyone on the same spot? Which plot points has the most attention, which came second or third?
• Now move on to Part B.

B) Filling the Gaps

• Invite the groups to think of anything that might be missing in the timeline - these can be things they know happen in the play or that they imagine might happen.
• Ask them to write these missing events on blank pieces of paper and add these to the timeline.
• When the timeline includes added events, compare the results to the synopsis of the play and discuss as a group:
• Which added plot points are actually in the play?
• Are these in the right order?
• Do your students agree with the things Shakespeare has included in his play or has he overlooked things you are interested in? What are these and how could they be included?

“On our set, we have a giant cube that we project images onto: flowers dying, trees on fire and, my favourite, a large eclipse. These are all images that would have been seen in the past as omens but are also events that are happening in our world now. We read the signs differently but they can still be read as omens.”                              

- Chloe Christian, Assistant Director, Julius Caesar, RSC 2023

In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare explores many opposing viewpoints. News and omens are received differently by different people. Eg: The citizens see the returning Caesar as a hero but Cassius sees his triumphant return as a threat to democracy. Calpurnia sees the disturbances in nature as bad omens warning Caesar but he dismisses such fears as cowardice.

 This writing and performance activity explores the different strands of the story by allowing students to work in small groups, improvising and adapting text and deciding how to interpret news based on different viewpoints. [You will need: Resource B - ‘The News in Rome’ from the Resource section at the end of this page, pens.]

•  Organise your students into 6 groups and hand each pair one of the 6 news reports.(With smaller groups, you can hand each group more than one to work on).
• Ask your students to read through their news story within their groups so they are clear about what is being reported. Challenge them to decide if they will report their news as GOOD or BAD. Eg: the triumphant return of Caesar is a GOOD thing for the people but a BAD thing for some of the senators who fear he is too popular.
•  Explain that they now have 10 minutes to rehearse their news report for the rest of the group. Encourage them to use more than one reporter and feature a witness if needed but that every member of the group must be included.
• Challenge them to add more lines or information to the news report to make it more dramatic to build up their story from what they know about the play. Eg: sound effects, additional eyewitnesses, reports of good or bad omens, the extreme views of some of the characters (eg. Cassius, Calpurnia, the Soothsayer).
•  Give the groups 5 more minutes to perfect their news story and then organise your 6 groups in order around the room sitting down so that each group can stand when it is their turn and the rest of the groups can see their report.
• Encourage them to save the applause to the end once each group has delivered their report so the whole event is reported seamlessly.
• When the group report is finished, discuss the results together: is it easier to remember a story when they see it visually? Which bits were particularly challenging or fun to report and why? Which particular moments of the story stood out and why?

Extension Discussion

• Reflect as a group how news can be distorted by people in power. Can students think of any modern examples in our society where this is the case? Eg: In rival newspapers? By different political parties? On social media? In countries where free speech is controlled or banned?
•  Discuss the importance of keeping a balanced view. How can we make sure we are getting the right information on the news we hear? What are the dangers if we do not do this: to us as individuals, to a society?
• Can they think of any examples of good or bad omens in our modern world? When do superstitions hit the news and why? Eg: A cluster of high profile deaths making ‘an unlucky year’, Paul the Octopus ‘predicting’ football results (2008-10).

“Julius Caesar is murdered, or sacrificed… And then what? In the scenes immediately following Caesar’s death, the world is on pause. Anything could happen. History is suspended. Then Antony unleashes the dogs of war and murderous chaos ensues.”

- ADRIAN POOLE, Professor of English Literature, Cambridge University.

This writing activity encourages students to think beyond Shakespeare’s plot about the possible outcomes of Caesar's murder and the coup to take his power. [You will need Resource C: ‘The Aftermath’ from the Resource section at the end of this page, paper & pens, a whiteboard.]

•  Briefly discuss the different forms of government and leadership with your group and jot down as many as they can think of, Eg: dictatorship, monarchy, communism, socialism, democracy, etc on a whiteboard.
• Organise your students into groups of 3 and hand out paper and pens.
• Give your groups a few minutes to discuss the citizens of Rome: who they are, what their lives are like, what kind of government they want? Their opinions of Caesar - might he become a dictator? Do they trust him? Are they happy being ruled by one man or by a group of people that represent their views? Encourage them to jot down any interesting words or thoughts.
• Invite 3 volunteers to read the short scene from Resource C and, as they listen, encourage the groups to imagine they are citizens of Rome and how they might feel about what has just happened and why it was done.
• Ask each group to discuss their feelings and what they hope might happen now: Do they want the conspirators to lead Rome? Do they want a new Caesar? Do they want the murderers punished? Or a new regime entirely?
•  Ask your groups to decide if they are going to support the conspirators or fight against them and ask them what might happen next in their version of events, as if they were writing a new ending to Shakespeare’s play: Do the conspirators murder Antony next? Does Brutus become leader? Does a new group of senators get elected?
•  Invite a spokesperson from each group to share their endings and why they chose them.
• Discuss as a whole group: Why does Shakespeare choose this ending for the play? What point is he trying to make about the coup? Who does he believe is right or is he letting his audience decide? Do we agree with Cassius and Brutus or are we on Antony’s side?

Discussion extension for older students: MAKING A COUP

• Give your students some time to research historical coups, revolution or changes of power - and choose ONE example to present to the rest of the class. They can work individually or in groups.
• Encourage them to decide why the coup happened and if they think it was successful, or not. It may even be ongoing. Ask them to try and find positive outcomes as well as negative ones: Who benefited the most from it? Are things better or worse now it has happened?
•  Invite your groups to present their findings to the class and discuss the results: Why do coups happen? What type of government do they think is best and why?
•  In their groups, ask your students to choose ONE form of government for their school or college and spend some time planning how this government could stage a successful coup. Invite the groups to present their PLOTS to the group and take a vote on the most popular.
• If you have time, continue onto the following extension, it is designed for younger students but can be useful for older students also, especially those who think visually.

This physical activity allows students to explore and create characters from what is said both BY and ABOUT each of the main players in the text. [You will need copies of Resource D: ‘Guess Who?’ from the Resource section at the end of this page.]

• Organise your students into 6 groups and give each group THREE characters from Resource D (making sure each character is given to at least two groups).
• Explain that they now have 15 minutes to identify their two characters from what is said by and about them and to create a statue dedicated to that person which must include every member of the group.
• Encourage them to think about whether the statements made by or about these characters are really true, who will be making this statue and who it is for and what it could represent: A positive or negative image of that person? The statue they would want or the statue the people (or even their enemies) might want.
•  Invite each group to show their statues and see if the rest of the groups can guess the characters from the images.
• Compare each statue of the same character. Eg: what do the different Caesar’s look like? What are the most powerful images and why? Do you think the characters would like these statues of themselves? If not, why?
•  Examine the statues belonging to Portia and Calpurnia. Are they different from the statues of the male characters? If so, why?

Discussion Extension: DESIGN A STATUE

[You will need: pens and paper.]

•  Divide your students into smaller groups and ask them to think of as many statues, memorials or famous paintings of leaders that they can think of.
• Invite them to choose ONE of these examples and to write down what they think about this image: Why was it made? It is a positive or negative image? Is it flattering? What things have been added or used to make this figure seem a certain way, Eg: robes, animals, colours, other people, other symbols or props? Why are these things important?
•  Ask your students to choose ONE character from Julius Caesar and design a statue for them. Encourage them to decide if this statue is to be designed by the character themselves or by someone else and what difference this would make.

This physical activity explores the motives of Brutus and Cassius by allowing students to work on each other’s morality in the same way the characters do.  (This physical activity will need: a decent sized floor space).

•  Organise your students in two lines facing each other like a long corridor across the room, with enough space for one person to walk through the corridor and ask them to sit down.
• Explain that one line is Cassius (who wants Brutus to kill Caesar) and the other side is Portia (Brutus’s wife, who does not).
• As a whole group, brainstorm reasons why Cassius thinks Brutus SHOULD murder Caesar, Eg: Rome does not need a Dictator, Caesar is a vain ruler, it will mean the end of the Republic; AND reasons why Portia thinks Brutus SHOULD NOT murder Caesar, Eg: the people might turn against him, Caesar has refused the crown and is no threat, Antony will punish him.
•  Ask for two volunteers to play Brutus and Caesar and ask them to stand at opposite ends of the corridor. Explain that if Brutus hears a persuasive reason to murder Caesar, they must take a step forward towards Caesar and if they hears a good reason why he shouldn’t murder Caesar, they must take a step back.
• If Brutus makes it to Caesar, they are to touch them on the shoulder and Caesar must say “Et tu, Brute!” and fall to his death dramatically. You may then recast your Brutus and Caesar and start another game. If Brutus does NOT make it to Caesar after 5 minutes, end the game and recast.
• Encourage your Cassius’ and Portias to think of as many reasons as possible and to wait until Brutus is near them to voice their reason. Remind them if everyone shouts out together, Brutus will not hear. Remind them that they must remain seated and not touch Brutus.
• After each game, ask your Brutus which reasons made them move back or forward. What are the most powerful things Cassius and Portia can say to make Brutus move either way? What does this say about Brutus as a character?

This physical & writing activity explores the roles of Portia and Calpurnia. [You will need: Resource E: ‘Portia & Calpurnia (edited)’ from the Resource materials at the end of this page, paper & pens.]

•  Organise your students into groups of 3 and give each a copy of Resource E, either Portia or Calpurnia. Ask them to decide who each woman is speaking to and why.
• Explain that they will have 10 minutes to go through the 4 ways their character tries to influence their husband and describe the tactics used in each. Encourage them to write down any emotions or tactics their characters are using on each line.
• Ask your groups to create 4 tableaus or frozen images of both husband and wife to describe each tactic. Encourage them to be as accurate as possible in the emotions they represent both in husband and wife and to pay particular attention to their status and type of relationship, Eg: Is this a close happy marriage? Is it easy for these couples to talk like this? How high are the stakes here?
•  Now explain that each group must find a way to go from image to image, making the transitions smooth and detailed. Add that they must use the text to describe each image they create before moving on to the next.
• Challenge the groups to invent imaginative ways to deliver the text, Eg: taking turns playing the wives, speaking together as a chorus.Invite each group to show their characters’ journey and discuss as a group: What do these speeches show us about Portia and Calpurnia as wives? How similar or different are they to each other? What is Shakespeare showing us about these women, their status in Rome and their marriages?

Extension discussion: Diverse Voices

• As a group, discuss the role of female and non-binary voices in government and in society: Are women allowed the same freedom to speak out as men? What examples do we have of such voices NOT being heard?
•  Invite students to think of any words (positive & negative) that have been used to describe women who speak their minds. Examples might be: Fishwife, Dragon, Feminist, Nag, Shrew, Battleaxe, Suffragette, Terf. Make 2 lists on your whiteboard of positive and negative terms and add these terms to the lists.
• Now ask your students to think of any names for men who speak out and do the same. Discuss the results: Are there more terms for men, women or non-binary people? Which list is longer and why might this be?

“We decided that all our main characters went to school together and had known each other for years and years. It looks at their relationships in an interesting way: what happens if you had to do something radical, even if it meant overthrowing your mate? What happens if he isn’t a Mussolini or a Hitler, what if he’s a Lula from Brazil or a Corbyn with more egalitarian politics?”

- Chloe Christian, Assistant Director, Julius Caesar, RSC 2023

The following physical activities allow students to explore simple examples of trust and betrayal. [You will need: a large clear classroom or hall or, if this is not available, have students watch each other work in small groups.]

A) Cinna the Poet 

This game is inspired by Cinna the Poet who gets mistaken for Cinna the Conspirator and killed by the Mob.

• Ask for two volunteers to play Cinna the Poet and the Mob. Ask the other students to move freely around the space in pairs, hand in hand.
• Explain that the aim of the game is for the Mob to catch Cinna but Cinna can escape by holding hands with some one in a pair. When Cinna does this, the person at the other end of that pair is then cast adrift and becomes Cinna.
• Add that when the Mob has caught Cinna, they must change roles.
• Discuss the role of Cinna the Poet in the play and the terrible mistake the mob makes when they catch him. The above activity is a game but this character’s death is a huge and devastating turning point in the play. Why do they think Shakespeare included this scene? What affect does it have on the audience? How does it complicate who is right and wrong and whose morality we can trust? Watch the RSC’s I, Cinna (The Poet) full-length feature film.

Discussion Extension: What is a Mob?

If you have time, discuss the meaning of the word ‘mob’. When does a crowd become a mob? When is a mob good or bad? Do individuals behave differently in a mob to how they would if they were just on their own? Why is this and can they think of any modern examples where a mob has formed - for good or bad?

B) Cassius v Calpurnia

•  Organise your students into groups of 3 and decide who will be Caesar; the other two must decide secretly between them who is Calpurnia (friend) and Cassius (foe).
• Explain that Caesar is to close their eyes and the other two will begin to take turns giving him orders or suggestions that he must do, Eg: to sing, to crawl, to jump etc. If they give him an order he cannot do or does not wish to do, he can pretend or mime.
•  Encourage the Calpurnias and Cassiuses to think of how their characters feel towards Caesar before asking him to do things. Challenge Cassius not to reveal himself by choosing something obvious such as: go swimming or die horribly! Can Cassius seem like a friend, whilst still managing to humiliate or endanger Caesar
• After a few minutes of this, ask your Caesars if they could tell who was friend or foe?
• Now ask your groups to swap Caesars and play the game again but this time Calpurnia is BRUTUS. Brutus is a friend of Caesars who becomes an enemy. How might this change his suggestions? When might Brutus turn against him or will Brutus’s conscience keep him friendly for longer?
• Discuss the activity as a whole group: Did any of the Caesars get it wrong? How were they taken in? How did it feel not to know who was your friend or enemy? Was there a difference between Brutus and Cassius?

“After Caesar’s death, our production has a period of ‘limbo’, a time between life and death. One of the characters who has just died (Cinna the Poet) comes on stage and everyone enters a trance-like state to deal with the aftermath of what’s just happened. All the characters are given a ‘Sliding Doors’ moment where, if they had chosen a different path or the timing was slightly different, everything would have been different.”

- Chloe Christian, Assistant Director, Julius Caesar, RSC 2023

The following physical activities allow students to explore simple examples of trust and betrayal. [You will need: copies of Resource F: ‘Trusted Friends?’ from the Resource section at the end of this page, pens].

•  Organise your students into groups of 3 and hand out copies of Resource F. Ask the groups to read through the 5 points together and discuss the journey of this relationship: Does it start strong and get worse? Does it repair itself? What are the danger points? When do these characters trust each other most?
•  Explain that each group now has 10 minutes to stage this relationship in which ever way they wish. They can use: freeze frame images, mime, improvise small scenes, include other characters and a narrator. They can write or improvise other lines but they must include the Shakespeare text.
• Encourage the groups to think about how they will move from one point to the next. Will they include any of the action in-between? The murder of Caesar for example?
• Invite the groups to perform their ‘Trusted Friends’ to the others and discuss the results: Who do we most sympathise with out of these two? Does Shakespeare want us to understand both characters’ point of view? Is their relationship loving, weak, doomed, exploitative, tragic? How does it change the play if the relationship is performed in a different way?

Discussion Topic: The Power of Gender

In our production, Brutus and Cassius are played by women, as is Octavius. The Soothsayer is played by a non-binary performer. Ask your students:

• Are male and female relationships portrayed differently in our society and if so, why? How does having two women in these roles change a production of Julius Caesar? Is anything lost or challenged? What might it add?
• Why do you think these decisions were made by the director? What affect might this casting have on the audience?
• How easily do we accept women in power in our society? How different do we see this now from in Shakespeare’s time 400 years ago? In Roman times? How might this change in the future and can theatre affect this?

“The Community Chorus are like ‘the Fates’, their appearance signifies an important event. They are closely connected to the Soothsayer and, although they don’t say anything, they use a lot of breath work. They are the first people we see at the top of the show and breathe life into the Soothsayer, an image that is very different to the Disney film, ‘Hercules’, where the Fates cut the strings of life.”

- Chloe Christian, Assistant Director, Julius Caesar, RSC 2023

Julius Caesar is ALL about shifting power. The following physical activities allow students to explore the simple effects of power and powerlessness.

A) Powerful Space

• Ask your students to stand at one side of the room and, in their own time, move to where they think the most powerful place in the room is. (With larger groups, do this in small batches) Discuss the results.
• Now ask them to move to:
  • The weakest place
  • The safest place
  • The place where they feel most invisible
  • A neutral spot
  • The most dangerous place
  • A good place for a murder
  • A safe place for a conspirator
  • Caesar’s spot
• Discuss the results of this: Is it stronger to risk being more exposed? Is it safer with your back against the wall? Is it smarter to hide in plain sight?

B) Game of Power 

[You will need: A clear space in the room to be the ‘stage’, a desk or table, 4 chairs and a plastic water bottle. If you don’t have these, a few chairs will do.]

•  Organise your students at one side of the room facing the ‘stage’. Place the desk, chairs and bottle randomly on the stage.
• Invite volunteers to go up one at a time and arrange the objects onstage to make ONE chair the most powerful object in relation to the others. The only rule is none of the objects must be damaged or removed from the stage.
• When a suitable arrangement has been agreed on, ask one volunteer to enter the space and take up the most powerful position onstage without moving anything.
• Once someone is in place, invite another volunteer to place themselves in an even more powerful position and take away the power the first person established.
• Challenge them to see how many times this can be done before it becomes impossible.

“We wanted to incorporate the audience into Act 3, Scene 2 as the ‘friends, Romans and Countrymen’, so we have the Soothsayer with a specific sound effect on their mic as if they are a caller at a Boxing Match, someone who would say ‘Round One’ etc. They read the citizens' lines from the audience as if someone has said something to them and they are reporting it back."

- Chloe Christian, Assistant Director, Julius Caesar, RSC 2023

This performance activity, in 2 parts, encourages students to consider how Shakespeare manipulates the Roman people through powerful language and symbolism and how it might feel to be part of that crowd or ‘mob’. [You will need: Resource G: ‘Mob Rule’ from the Resource section of this pack (there is a primary version of this), pens.]

A) Tactics

• Discuss the action of Act 3, Scene 2: The scene happens directly after Caesar has been killed publicly on the steps of the senate. The people of Rome gather to hear Brutus defend the actions of the conspirators. Then Antony arrives with Caesar’s body and speaks to the crowd also. Antony manages to whip the crowd up against the conspirators so successfully, Brutus and the others are forced to flee from an angry mob.
• Organise your students into groups of 3 or 4 and hand out copies of Resource G (depending on age, there is a primary version). Explain that these are edited versions of the longer speeches.
• Ask your groups to read through the two speeches (divided into sections) and decide how Brutus and Antony are trying to affect the crowd in every section. Encourage them to consider: The words they choose, any repetition, any display or mention of emotions, any actions they refer to. What tactics are they using and why?
•  Give your groups a few minutes to decide how the citizens might listen and react to the speeches. Encourage them to think about who these people are: How they felt about Caesar, how shocked they are to see the murder scene, hope or fear for the future, their livelihoods…?
•  Discuss the results as a group: What is it about Antony’s tactics that creates a mob which turns so violently against Brutus? Remind them that the mob get so angry and bloodthirsty, that they attack an innocent man, Cinna the Poet (who is not a conspirator).

B) Making the Mob 

•  Organise your students into 2 big groups: Group Brutus and Group Antony. Ask each group to appoint a Brutus and Antony who will say their speeches out loud to the rest of the group.
• Explain that the rest of the group are the Citizens of Rome and must plan how they are going to react to the different sections of the speeches. Encourage the citizens to talk back to Brutus and Antony like a real crowd: Ask them questions, mock them, cheer. (Remind them of any props that will be needed, eg: Caesar’s will and body).
• Remind the citizens that their reactions must get bigger and more dramatic at each section of the speeches and at some point, the two groups will join up in favour of Antony and become the mob.
• Give each group a few minutes to rehearse their speeches and reactions, then ask your Brutus and Antony to stand facing the Citizens and deliver their speech, starting with Brutus and including all the mob reactions.
• Discuss the results together: Did the mob do or say anything that wasn’t planned? How did it feel being part of the mob: powerful? Frightening? How do Brutus and Antony feel about the mob? Does Antony know what he’s doing when he incites the people into becoming a mob?

Group Discussion

[You will need the complete Act 3, Scene 2 (edited) from Resource G and some time to rehearse]

•  Cast the scene amongst the group and read it out loud.
• Decide on how you will stage this scene: will Brutus and Antony have a special place to speak from? A podium, lectern or stage? How will Caesar’s body arrive and where will it be placed during the scene?
• Will Brutus be surrounded by his co-conspirators? When do they leave?
• How many citizens will you have and what kind of people will they be?
• At what point does the mob feeling begin to change and how can you show this physically as well as vocally?
• Rehearse your scene (students can learn or add lines if they wish but there is no pressure to learn the big speeches)
• Perform your scene and discuss the results: Did anyone get emotional? How does Shakespeare help his actors to ‘feel’ this scene? How effective is it for an audience? Are we expecting this outcome?