Tragedy! Conspiracy! It's Julius Caesar in Cranston Starting this Weekend

If you’re in the mood for Julius Caesar, and you know you are — it’s coming to the William Hall Library starting this weekend.

The Burbage Theatre Company is kicking off series of performances beginning this weekend on Aug. 23 and running through Sept. 7 in the cool, air conditioned venue of the historic William H. Hall Library on Broad Street in Cranston.

The story of Julius Caesar is incredibly violent, politically charged and with Shakespeare’s magnificent rendition of the downfall of the iconic Roman emperor being used to tell it, there’s never a time not to catch a performance when it comes to town.

And this interpretation, directed by Jeff Church, offers a stark, intense and innovative staging for the unsettling and powerful epic tragedy.

In a release, the company said they’re presenting “a play about men who make mistakes; great men whose choice to act was met with grave consequences.”

In 44 BC on March 15th, certain few members of the Roman senate, as a means of preventing the ascension of a dictator, murdered Julius Caesar, one of the great rulers of the ancient world.

Lead by the infamous Marcus Brutus in the name of honor and the general good, the faction of senators stabbed Caesar thirty three times on the floor of the Senate. What resulted was civil discord and the dividing of a great empire.

“Shakespeare’s masterpiece is a discourse on how politics can be personal, and how political ideals, while honorable in theory, are rarely met as such,” the theatre company said.

This performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar stars Dillon Medina, Aaron Morris, Vince Petronio, Sarah Leach, Rae Mancini, Jeff Church, Aubrey Dion, Ben Church, Jason Quinn, Ethan Cote, Chris Pelletier, Jason Almeida, and Molly Greene.

Burbage Theatre Company started with two preview performances on Aug. 21 and 22, and officially opens on Saturday Aug. 23 at 8 p.m.

It also runs Aug. 23, 28 and 30 and Sept. 4, 5 and 6 at 8 p.m. There are two 3 p.m. shows: Aug. 24 and Sept. 7.

Tickets: $12-$15

Discounts for groups of 10 or more, students and seniors. Tickets at BTCtheater@gmail.com.

Parking is plentiful at the library, which is located at 1825 Broad St., Cranston.

Photo Caption: Dillon Medina as Brutus. (Photo: Rich Dionne)