Julius Caesar, Instahottie

Now that it’s March, I’m going to bombard you with jokes about leprechauns, the chilly Spring Break we’re walking into, and—most excitingly—NYU’s upcoming production of Julius Caesar! 

Yeah, I just said that the play about the guy who gets stabbed to death by senators is exciting. In fact, Julius Caesar might be my favorite Shakespeare play and it should also be yours, so if you’re not one of the many Romeo and Juliet stans who clicked out of this article, enjoy learning about the new, subversive interpretation of J.Caes coming to you from the mind of one of our very own English (and Theater) majors, Timothy Koh. 

A key thing to know about Koh is that directing is his first love.  In an interview, Koh expressed his belief that it was neither chance nor happenstance that he got the opportunity to direct Caesar, but “a trajectory of things” that built his artistic portfolio so he’d be set to work on this play of backstabbing this semester. He’s been interested in classical theater for a long time—the thous , the thees, and the works of William Shakespeare.

“Stop running away from Shakespeare,” Koh says with a chuckle as we speak on the phone. And then sobers a bit. He describes trying to be a Shakespeare director as “niche,” and with writing an honors thesis and working, this niche position is a labor of love. Julius Caesar holds special significance for Koh, as it’s also his senior spring production. The last of his NYU career, and of course, a graduation requirement.

“Caesar was the first Shakespeare I liked,” he says, recalling his high school introduction to the play. He describes reading Julius Caesar for the first time as an a-ha moment of sorts. 

“I was like ‘oh, this can be interesting.’” Koh continues, explaining that the experience was the first time “Shakespeare made sense.” 

What does this love of J.Caes mean for Koh’s conceptualization of the play? Well, that’s where the English part of his English/Drama major comes in. It’s all about what is already in the text. We’re talking close-reading and textual analysis and making connections between the classic works of Shakespeare and our contemporary concerns. 

To Koh, “the director is the mediator” of a production, “more of a serviceable [actor] to the playwright.” Koh says all this before noting that the playwright is more like a “kingpin” in this metaphor. 

Koh’s form of mediation isn’t interested in reproducing a Julius Caesar with dudes in “togas.” Anyone who has seen Koh’s fall production of Much Ado About Nothing would understand that his eye to classical Shakespearean works is acutely aware of modern cultural issues. His version of Much Ado filtered the play through a pop-punk framework. 

When I ask what the concept for Caesar is, Koh laughs and replies with another question. 

“Have you seen the Fyre Festival documentary?” 

Koh explains that he “hates influencer culture,” but thought that observing how a group of people can get millions of followers to do anything was compelling when put in conversation with Shakespeare’s interpretation of ancient Rome. 

This idea of “the few controlling the many,” is something Koh believes is central to Julius Caesar. His production tracks the relationship between the mob and the many through an “instahottie” lens. 

Caesar’s the instahottie, naturally. He is the most powerful influencer of Rome, the incitor of the jealousy we feel after seeing that someone’s gotten more likes than our spring break photos. Koh warns that he’s not directing an “instagram is bad” play. To Koh and his designers, the shared stories between Caesar and contemporary influencers are too clear to ignore. There’s also the complicated effect of what Koh refers to as the “homosocial” aspects of the play, the way that wives are continuously ignored by their husbands who are more devoted to their same-sex friends. 

I’ll stop now to keep from giving too much away. 

Timothy Koh’s production of Julius Caesar runs from May 2 to May 4 at the Robert Moss Theatre (440 Lafayette St).  Keep an eye out for ticket links, and I hope to see you there.