In Boulder, Karen Slack shines as Brutus alongside an overall excellent cast.

Agonizing decisions are at the heart of many a Shakespeare tragedy, and in Julius Caesar we have it in spades with one of the most compelling performances I’ve ever seen at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. The CSF has been toying with gender switching in recent years (a female Lear, Prospero and Caliban come quickly to mind), and Karen Slack as Brutus in this Julius Caesar delivers an epic performance I think we’ll remember for a long time.

And she’s far from alone. Director Shelly Gaza has a wealth of acting horsepower here, with co-conspirators Benjamin Reigel as a frenetic Cassius, Jihad Milhem playing the blunt, more grounded Casca and Brandon Bruce as the cunning Decius Brutus. As Caesar, Joe Hilsee nails the character’s contradictions: the arrogant pol who likes to refer to himself in the third person juxtaposed with the weaker figure he is in private (sound familiar?). His only real defender is Mark Antony, portrayed by Antoinette Robinson with fiery precision.

The play is staged in modern day. No togas and laurel wreaths here — we may as well be in D.C. with characters wielding guns and cellphones. Costume Designer Sarah Zinn has everyone in sleek business attire, while Kevin Nelson’s grand, gorgeous set uses multiple levels to portray the scale of the action — and stakes. On either side of the stage are large, vertical displays that show cable news, cellphone screens, live video from the stage streaming from the omnipresent plebeians and more.

If you’re looking for a fairly accessible Shakespearean tragedy, this one’s for you. Gaza keeps the action moving, slowing only for some of the more important exchanges and soliloquies.

Antoinette Robinson as Mark Antony and Joe Hilsee as Caesar in ‘Julius Caesar.’ | Photo: Jennifer Koskinen

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Despite the play’s name, this is really the story of Brutus and her fast, painful journey from Roman senator to conspirator and murderer. It’s a treat to see Slack make a meal of this role most often performed by men, but other than her relatively deep voice, she plays it pretty straight.

The power comes from the actor’s absolute command of her lines and her rock-solid understanding of and appreciation for the character. A senator, yes, but also the urban praetor in charge of administering justice in the city. It was a position given to her by Caesar, adding another layer to the tortured decision to join the conspirators — egged on primarily by Cassius. But she does her own convincing as well. In a moving soliloquy masterfully delivered by Slack, Brutus starts out:

It must be by his death: and for my part,
I know no personal cause to spurn at him

Yet a few lines later she’s comparing him to a serpent’s egg that must be killed in its shell.

Slack finds many small moments to tease out a bit more meaning or wit from a line just by inserting a small pause or unexpected inflection. By projecting the Bard’s language to a modern audience with such ease, she makes the character instantly relatable even in the early scenes as we’re still acclimating to the unfamiliar words and cadence.

Robinson, too, has some meaty scenes, particularly the one in which Mark Antony praises the killers while simultaneously whipping up the crowd against them.

A look at Kevin Nelson’s impressive set in ‘Julius Caesar.’ | Photo: Jennifer Koskinen

Crowd sourcing

Back to that enormous set and how it’s used, Gaza’s staging is striking in its scope. Nelson’s design includes the kind of massive columns you might find in ancient Rome while the interiors are stark and modern. Brutus’ home is the kind of spare, well-appointed space you might find in a U.S. senator’s digs in Georgetown. It’s a study in contrast to see some of the most intense scenes in Act Two played out around a cute chair-and-table set with Brutus in comfy PJs.

For the crowd scenes, Gaza makes full use of the auditorium itself, with the plebs ranging up and down the outer aisles and moving in on the action with cellphones eagerly recording. In places where a messenger would enter with a note in the original script, here the characters are getting texts — an apt device in a play where such messengers are used extensively.

Lighting Designer Katie Gruenhagen plays with a wide palette of color, with many of the bigger scenes set against the large bank of steps bathed in yellow partly reflected from the floor alongside a mix of shadows. At Chez Brutus, string lights offer a festive background while dark matters are discussed.

With a 90-minute Act One and a quick 40-minute second act, this adaptation of Julius Caesar feels a bit lopsided timewise. Act Two seems a bit rushed as it contains an entire civil war and a number of deaths. You’d also be forgiven if you get a little confused about what’s going on with all the running about and war action. In sum, though, it’s a refreshingly entertaining tragedy, well-helmed by Gaza and boasting a stellar cast that truly delivers.