Killing Caesar (2020) by Jon Pescevich is an opera in two acts, based on Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar“.
When Julius Caesar takes the crown, a small band of citizens attacks him, prepared to pay any price to defend democracy. Listeners are swept along on a powerful descent into revolution and violence, confronting them with the question, “What if this were to happen to us?”
Act One, scene 1
The Steps of the Senate
A blazing afternoon sun beats down steadily on an open air market in Rome where Cassia stands, closely watching the comings and goings of people on the steps of the Senate. When Brutus emerges from the Senate, trying to conceal a deeply troubled mood, she moves purposefully to intercept him.
As they exchange greetings, a mob within the Senate begins chanting Caesar’s name with mounting adoration and fervor. Brutus remarks that momentum is growing to crown Caesar as king. Cassia shares a vivid memory of witnessing Caesar’s weakness and fallibility, and questions why such a man should be granted so much power. She appeals to Brutus to remember his younger days when he would have done anything to defend the freedom of Rome. Brutus promises Cassia that he will consider her words, and then returns to the Senate.
A mob of Caesar’s followers spills out of the Senate and down the stairs to the marketplace, where they are joined by a growing number of citizens, flocking to catch a glimpse of their idol. Caesar appears from within the Senate, and with a gesture, he quiets the crowd. He addresses them, making the case that he is uniquely suited to rule and to protect them. The mob hangs on his every word, and chants his name in approval.
Act One, scene 2
The Street in Front of Brutus and Portia’s Estate
Night has come, and a striking comet marks the sky as Brutus emerges from his home. A small group of protestors is scrawling anti-Caesar graffiti on walls along the street, and in the distance voices can be heard calling for resistance. A group of soldiers comes running to arrest the protesters and drags them away.
Brutus is left alone in the street, wrestling with thoughts that have been tormenting him since his conversation with Cassia. Brutus loves and respects Caesar, and has proudly served him. He has never known Caesar to harm Rome, or its citizens. Yet Brutus fears that if Caesar is crowned, he will become too powerful to oppose. And should Caesar decide to abuse his power, Romans will not be able to protect their democracy. Brutus is forced to a terrible conclusion: for the sake of freedom, Caesar must be killed before he becomes king.
Suddenly, Brutus’ wife Portia runs into the street in a state of great agitation. Her formidable intellect is turned inward, searching for her husband’s whereabouts and intentions in invisible places. She has sensed that some grave and sinister problem is denying Brutus sleep. Her thoughts become deliberate, and she calms. Her eyes focus on Brutus, and she questions him, searching for the dangerous secret that she is certain he is hiding from her. She implores him to confide in her, but Brutus cannot bring himself to do so. He draws her into a sad and passionate embrace.
Act One, scene 3
The Steps of the Senate
The comet now dominates the night sky above the steps of the Senate, where a large group of protesters clash with soldiers. Many are arrested and taken away, while others flee into the shadows, where they tend to those who are wounded. Cassia arrives and joins them. She reflects that although Caesar can imprison them, they still hold the ultimate power; the power to escape their oppressor through death. As Cassia leads the protesters in a ritual, they share stories of strange and frightening omens of havoc and disaster. One by one, a small band of conspirators gathers around Cassia for comfort, while the others light candles on the steps, filling the stage with hope. When the ritual ends, most of the protesters leave for home, but Cassia and her band of conspirators remain.
Brutus arrives, and the conspirators take heart when he joins their cause. As he takes control and they hatch a plan to murder Caesar, Brutus overrides Cassia’s advice again and again. When she insists that they kill Caesar’s staunch ally, Mark Antony, Brutus objects, and against her better judgement Cassia agrees with him. While they practice the arts of flattery and assassination the comet grows red, resembling a wound in the night sky.
Act One, scene 4
Caesar and Calpurnia’s Garden
It is early morning, and dawn has painted the sky above Caesar’s estate a vivid blood-red. Caesar’s wife Calpurnia is in the garden, working feverishly on a sculpture. Other works of art, in varying degrees of completion, line the garden’s pathways. Calpurnia has awakened from a terrifying dream, and she is trying to express what she dreamed in clay.
Caesar joins his wife in the garden. He has had a fitful night of sleep. Three times he was awakened by Calpurnia, crying out in her dreams. Calpurnia lays down her sculpting tools, and earnestly warns Caesar not to leave their house that day. She describes for him signs of doom that have been revealed to her, and shows him depictions of those visions in her works.
Cassia and Brutus enter the garden, and announce that they have come to escort Caesar to the Senate. Calpurnia begs Caesar not to leave, relating her dream in which she saw a statue of Caesar with blood pouring from a hundred spouts. Brutus and Cassia smilingly reinterpret her story in a positive light, asserting that it symbolizes Caesar nurturing Rome and making it strong. This version of the dream pleases and flatters Caesar immensely, and he prepares to leave for the Senate, commanding Calpurnia to bring his robe.
Cassia announces that the Senate has decided to give Caesar a crown. Calpurnia again begs Caesar not to leave, but the lure of the crown wins out over her pleas. Caesar kindly but firmly rebuffs her, and Cassia and Brutus lead him away. Calpurnia begins to violently destroy her art work, tearing at the clay in frustration. She drops to her knees and pounds the earth with her fists, sobbing and screaming with anguish.
intermission
Act Two, scene 1
The Steps of the Senate
It is midday, and on the steps of the Senate a mob of Caesar‘s supporters wait for him in the bright sunlight, eagerly chanting his name. Cassia, Brutus, and their fellow conspirators arrive with Caesar. The mob brings gifts and petitions, laying them at Caesar’s feet. There is a contagious excitement in the air as the mob, shouting Caesar’s name with ecstasy, brings him a crown. Caesar accepts it reverently, and placing it on his head, he crowns himself. At this, the band of conspirators draw their swords. They murder Caesar, each of them stabbing him again and again. The mob runs away in horror.
Cassia, Brutus, and some of the conspirators exultantly proclaim freedom and the death of tyranny. They kneel one by one and wash their hands in Caesar’s blood, and then anoint their swords with it. Some of the conspirators become uneasy as they watch; they surreptitiously lay down their weapons and slip away.
Mark Antony emerges from the Senate, and walks to Caesar’s body, stricken with grief and disbelief. He asks Caesar’s murderers to slay him, too, as there can be no better death for him than to fall beside Caesar. Brutus and Cassia tell Antony that they do not wish to slay him. They hope to win him as their ally. Antony listens, hiding his rage. He convinces Brutus to allow him to speak at Caesar’s funeral. Cassia distrusts Antony, and urges Brutus to say no, but Brutus overrules her. Together with the remaining conspirators, they ascend the steps of the Senate, waving their bloody hands in the air. The people cheer as they enter the Senate.
Now that he is alone, Antony allows his rage to surface. He finds a discarded flag, and covers Caesar’s bloody corpse with it. He swears that he will take revenge for Caesar‘s death and unleash a campaign of terror and destruction across the land.
As Antony finishes wrapping Caesar’s body in the flag, a mob of people gather at the steps of the Senate, seething with anger and confusion. They have just listened to Brutus speak, and they are struggling to accept the idea that Caesar was killed for his ambition. Antony approaches the mob, and slowly manipulates their feelings. He eulogizes Caesar, remembering how Caesar filled the city’s coffers, cared for the poor, and wept for the hardships of the common man.
The sky darkens with clouds as Antony dramatically lifts the flag that he draped over Caesar’s corpse, pointing out the many wounds, and skillfully stirring the mob’s emotions until they erupt. The mob storms up the steps into the Senate and sets the building on fire. Three of the conspirators are discovered amidst the crowd and dragged in front of Mark Antony to be judged. On Mark Antony’s command, they are executed on the spot.
Act Two, scene 2
A Field by Philippi
It is a starless night on a field near Philippi. Brutus sleeps on the ground and dreams, surrounded by his battle plans. Portia’s ghost steps out of a fiery image and approaches Brutus, calling to him to awaken and listen. Brutus tosses restlessly in his sleep as her ghost delivers news of the destruction of Rome, and of Antony’s growing power. She tells Brutus that she has dreamed that they will dine together, in Philippi, with Caesar and Cassia. Portia’s ghost leaves the still sleeping Brutus, and is swallowed up in images of his dreams. The images cease.
Brutus awakens, calling out for Portia to wait. A voice calls to him from the darkness, but it is Cassia who approaches, angry and offended. Brutus accuses Cassia of taking bribes and of denying him funds to pay his troops. Cassia fiercely defends her pragmatic actions, and then turns the conversation to the purpose of her visit. Mark Antony and his troops are bearing down on Philippi. Cassia recommends that she and Brutus move their troops, and hide from the approaching enemy. Antony’s troops will waste energy and supplies on searching for them, while their own troops rest and gain strength. It is a clever plan, but Brutus vetoes it. Word has reached him that Portia is dead. Hot for revenge, he is determined to strike at Mark Antony and his troops at daybreak. Cassia is shocked to learn of Portia’s death. She and Brutus put their differences aside, and go to work on their battle plans.
The clouds part and we see the comet, blazing its path across the heavens. Terrible and malignant, it slices its way through a star-filled sky. Cassia and Brutus become aware of someone approaching, and look up from their plans to see Caesar’s ghost, full of wounds. The stars begin to fall, and an army of war dead gathers behind Caesar’s ghost as he curses the world. His ghost walks into the masses of war dead, disappearing among them.
The war dead approach Cassia and Brutus and dress them for battle. Cassia and Brutus stand spellbound as they are dressed, envisioning the slaughter that awaits them. Taking up their weapons, they bravely head off into terrifying explosions of light and images of war. They disappear into the mayhem, and then there is one last violent and gigantic flash of light.
Slowly and surreally, a mushroom cloud unfolds. The war dead wail, lamenting that humanity has brought about its own destruction.
