The assassination of Julius Caesar is one of the most crowded pieces of butchery on the English stage. No fewer than eight conspirators join the brawl; now John Godber steps up to put the knife in as well.
Julius Caesar, Hull Truck-style, is Shakespeare hacked down to its most primal elements. A broad, historical canvas with over 30 named characters is slashed to 90 frenetic minutes with a cast of six. It's not pretty but, surprisingly, it works.
Certainly, not every play would be well served by such editorial vandalism. But Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare's most austere, poetically depleted tracts. It withstands rough handling rather well. And reduced to a bitter collision of frustrated male egos, it emerges as a peculiarly Godberian work.
Godber gives the play a modern context, though wisely keeps the details non-specific, and steers clear of tampering with the actual verse. Yet the burly line-up of black suited figures, grimacing and flexing their knuckles, could well be a group of bouncers anticipating a spot of aggro outside a Wakefield nightclub.
The acting is far from subtle though admirably clear of self-indulgence. Dicken Ashworth's Caesar roars like a walrus and Rob Hudson makes a truly brutal Brutus, but Barry McCormick's wily Mark Anthony is slightly hampered by his lack of rhetorical skills.
There's a performance of surprising depth and clarity from Rory MacGregor, star of the BBC TV series Spooks, whose Cassius has less of a lean and hungry look than the pasty pallor of a computer geek. There is something about the wry machinations of his intellect that is truly disturbing.
For all the Hull Truck emphasis on hulk and bulk, this Julius Caesar turns out to be the revenge of the nerd.
· Until Saturday. Box office: 01482 323638.
