Asolo Rep offers public performance of school tour show ‘Julius Caesar’

Every year, Sarasota’s Asolo Repertory Theatre and the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training stage a very tightly edited version of a Shakespeare play and tour it around area schools with a handful of public performances.

Whether you’re a devoted Shakespeare aficionado or simply Shakespeare-curious, it’s a fascinating way to experience the work of the greatest playwright in the language.

This year’s play is “Julius Caesar,” one of Shakespeare’s best-known and most-intense historical dramas. It’s packed with scenes and speeches that everyone knows as well as phrases (“Lend me your ears,” “Et Tu, Brute” “I come to bury Caesar”) that have become familiar even to those who don’t know where they originated.

For the Asolo production, the original script has been pared to 45 minutes. In past years, the Asolo experts have done a great job of keeping the essential plots – including many of the essential quotations – while drastically shortening the running time. The cast is made up of students from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory.

The first public performance is Friday at FSU Center for the Performing Arts. The only other one scheduled for Sarasota will be Oct 20 at the Glenridge Performing Arts Center.

Details: 5:30 p.m. Sept. 29, Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. $25. 941-351-8000, asolorep.org.

This story was originally published September 27, 2017 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Asolo Rep offers public performance of school tour show ‘Julius Caesar’."