Laboratory Theater presents William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” directed by Alex Dagg and Nykkie Rizley.
Known for pushing boundaries and championing daring, cutting-edge theater, The Laboratory Theater of Florida is returning to its roots with a provocative, modern reimagining of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, opening March 27. In this visceral staging, Co-directors Alex Dagg and Nykkie Rizley swap the marble pillars of Rome for the shadows of a dingy parking lot. This is a world of asphalt and adrenaline, where the high-minded rhetoric of the Senate is replaced by the dangerous codes of the street.
In the shadows of a neglected parking lot, Caesar is the undisputed law. But as influence grows, a faction of his own crew begins to feel the weight of his shadow. Led by a conflicted Brutus and the calculating Cassius, the group plots to dismantle the hierarchy they helped build. In this world of asphalt and adrenaline, loyalty is the only currency, and betrayal is a death sentence.
According to directors Alex Dagg and Nykkie Rizley, “When we began this process, our primary objective was to take a classic play, one so often defined by its direct parallels to the modern political climate, and present it in a way that allows the audience to look past those obvious comparisons. We wanted to refocus the lens on the timeless themes: power, ambition, honor, betrayal, and the terrifying speed with which social order decays once the mob mentality has taken hold.”…