_{Playwright Al Letson ^{PC: Amir Arsalan Shamsabadi on Unsplash} Julius X Played by Brandon Carter}

Julius X was born from rejection. When Al Letson was not cast as Mark Antony in a Julius Caesar production because of race, he decided, “Screw it, I’m going to write my own.” This was not bravado. It was love. He had fallen for Mark Antony’s speech in 10th grade and read Malcolm X’s autobiography in 7th. Both stayed with him. Years later, he realized Julius Caesar’s arc fit almost perfectly with Malcolm X’s life. This is how a dyslexic kid who learned to read through comics, a flight attendant who competed in poetry slams across America, an award-winning journalist and Shakespearean, spent over two years creating what is now playing at the Folger Theatre through October 26. I discovered Al Letson through Julius X.

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is a popular high school literature topic. How it is studied and how Shakespeare is presented often affects students for a lifetime. In Letson’s case, Caesar spoke to him. To others, it was just something to get through to close a chapter on high school English. I too studied Julius Caesar in high school. After my beloved Shakespeare teacher’s drowning the prior summer, I was uninspired to seriously pursue the play, and my new teacher was marking time. All was not lost for me. I read Shakespeare’s entire canon in five months in honor of my inspirational teacher’s 50^th anniversary of his drowning and published a blog about him and Shakespeare. That blog remains the most read of all of my blogs. Julius Caesar was, of course, reread. This time with real interest.

In preparing to see Julius X, I opened my books once again. Marjorie Garber’s essay in her book, Shakespeare After All, and Paul Cantor’s Shakespeare and Politics lectures on YouTube helped me prepare. I then researched the life of Malcolm X. As a child, I remember hearing my parents discussing his assassination on the day it happened. The parallels between the two men are remarkable. Yes, they were different, however, their passion, their vision, and their boldness are indisputable.

Al Letson so aptly married the two tragic heroes by meeting their arcs, their mission, their loyalty, and their fire. Having prepared, I was happy to feel like a participant rather than a spectator. I felt the rhythm of the verses, the drive of the characters, the commitment to community of the friends, and the loving fear of the wives. Sitting close to the stage, I saw facial expressions shift with each revelation – what performers call rubber faces, the ability to communicate entire thoughts through the smallest movement. The wives were remarkable: Julius’s wife in her impeccable teal suit with braid detailing, Portia animated and desperate, both showing love and intuition that their husbands would not, could not, hear. Julius X is fast paced. There is no time to wallow or worry. Things happen quickly, and while the interpretation is impressive and surprising, being prepared was key to my Julius X journey.  I was enthralled rather than bewildered.

Harlem of the 1960s was not Rome. Rome was regal, authoritative, imperial. But Harlem was home—brownstones and street corners, community and belonging. Its residents cannot live in Harlem without loving it. Harlem was Malcolm X’s ‘Rome.’  It was intimate, not monumental. It was his world. He had a burning passion. He wanted more for himself, his family, and his people. A militant who reconsidered his path but never abandoned his passion posed a threat to his supporters. The key? Ambition.

Caesar is a pivotal character. He has been compared to Alexander the Great by Plutarch in his biographies, Parallel Lives, in approximately 110 AD, to being featured by Shakespeare in the Tragedy of Julius Caesar in 1599, to being analyzed by Paul Cantor in the 21st century, juxtaposing him between Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra, and now, to being reimagined as Julius X by Letson in the 2020s. Almost 2000 years have passed. There is nothing new under the sun. Ambition is considered threatening by those with opposing vision or small thinking.

Julius X is entertaining, thought provoking, classic, and unapologetically bold. Playing through October 26 at the Folger Theatre, it rewards preparation and challenges assumptions. Good that Letson was not pigeonholed as Mark Antony. You can buy tickets now.

All photo credits: Erika Nizborski and Brittany Diliberto.