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''Caesar'' is the title of Orson Welles's innovative 1937 adaptation of William Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar'', a modern-dress bare-stage production that evoked comparison to contemporary Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Considered Welles's highest achievement in the theatre, it premiered November 11, 1937, as the first production of the Mercury Theatre, an independent repertory theatre company that presented an acclaimed series of productions on Broadway through 1941. ==Production== Breaking with the Federal Theatre Project in 1937, Orson Welles and John Houseman founded their own repertory company, which they called the Mercury Theatre. The name was inspired by the title of the iconoclastic magazine, ''The American Mercury''. The original company included such actors as Joseph Cotten, George Coulouris, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ruth Ford, Arlene Francis, Martin Gabel, John Hoysradt, Whitford Kane, Norman Lloyd, Vincent Price, Erskine Sanford, Stefan Schnabel and Hiram Sherman. The Mercury Theatre opened November 11, 1937, with ''Caesar''— Welles's modern-dress adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy ''Julius Caesar'', streamlined into an anti-fascist tour de force that Joseph Cotten later described as "so vigorous, so contemporary that it set Broadway on its ear." The set was completely open with no curtain, and the brick stage walls were painted dark red. Scene changes were achieved by lighting alone. On the stage was a series of risers; squares were cut into one riser at intervals and lights were set beneath it, pointing straight up to evoke the "cathedral of light" at the Nuremberg Rallies. "He staged it like a political melodrama that happened the night before," said Norman Lloyd, who played the role of Cinna the Poet. In a scene that became the fulcrum of the show, Cinna the Poet dies at the hands not of a mob but of a secret police force. Lloyd called it "an extraordinary scene () gripped the audience in a way that the show stopped for about three minutes. The audience stopped it with applause. It showed the audience what fascism was; rather than an intellectual approach, you saw a physical one."〔 In addition to adapting the text, Welles directed the production and performed the role of Marcus Brutus. Music was by Marc Blitzstein; sets and lighting were by Samuel Leve; the production manager was Jean Rosenthal.〔 Rehearsals began October 21, 1937. At the end of October press agent Henry Senber oversaw a ceremony unveiling the new electric sign identifying the theatre as the Mercury. Ticket prices ranged from 55 cents, for seats in the top balcony, to $2.20 for front row orchestra seats. The production moved from the Mercury Theatre to the larger National Theatre on January 24, 1938.〔 It ran through May 28, 1938, for a total of 157 performances. "''Caesar'' was unquestionably Welles's highest achievement in the theatre," wrote critic Richard France.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Caesar (Mercury Theatre)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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