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Brutus
In the Globe Theatre Company's production of Julius Caesar, Brutus was played by Danny Sapani.
About Danny Sapani
Danny has appeared in productions for Wilton's Music Hall, the Royal National Theatre, Royal Court, Nottingham Playhouse, the Royal Exchange, Manchester and Cheek by Jowl. His TV work includes roles in Trial and Retribution, Shakespeare Shorts, Casualty, and Richard II.
Click on the numbered links to follow Danny's journey as he creates and plays the character of Brutus in the Globe Theatre.
Danny Sapani - Introduction
The rehearsals take place in rehearsal rooms about 5 minutes walk from the Globe theatre itself. Each rehearsal room is very large and has an outline of the Globe stage marked out in tape on the floor. This helps the actors to prepare for working on the Globe stage. The actors will have very few rehearsals on the Globe stage before production week.
Each day your actor will receive his/her ‘call’ which is the time s/he is expected to report for rehearsal. During the rehearsal period, an actor's day will vary considerably. Your actor may rehearse scenes, attend a class (voice and/or movement) or have a costume fitting with the wardrobe department. A typical day might begin at 10.00am and finish at 6.30pm – sometimes there are also evening calls.
During the rehearsal period (particularly at the beginning) your actor will research his/her character. To help the actors, the assistant director will find relevant books, pictures, etc. and bring these to rehearsal. Extracts from books and pictures are often stuck onto the rehearsal room walls. Actors will also experiment with using props in rehearsal; these will be rough versions of the final prop and will help the actors to build the prop into the scene. Similarly, some form of rehearsal costume will be worn e.g. long skirts for the women, this will help actors to get used to moving, sitting, etc. in their costume. In particular, actors will use the actual shoes they will wear in performance during rehearsal. This is to wear the shoes ‘in’, as they are made using Elizabethan techniques and most pairs have no specified ‘left’ and ‘right’ foot. Many actors also feel that wearing the correct shoes helps them to ‘get into’ character.
The companies have 5 weeks of rehearsal before the technical and dress rehearsals. Generally, the beginning of this period is spent improvising around the text and in development of character; towards the end of these 5 weeks, actors will rehearse scenes in detail and run parts of the play. The exact method of working in rehearsal is established and shaped by the director.
Danny Sapani - Character Notes
These comments are the actor's thoughts or ideas about the part as s/he goes through the rehearsal process – they are simply his/her own interpretations and frequently change as the rehearsal process progresses.
Danny will be playing Brutus, who conspires against Caesar and murders him. When Danny came to audition at the Globe, he was asked what part he was most interested in playing - Danny knew immediately that he wanted to play Brutus. One of the things that Danny finds so fascinating about the character is that he is always spoken of as being very noble, but there is obviously also an element to Brutus which motivates him to assassinate Caesar. Many of Brutus’ thought processes or decisions are not played out on stage. Danny finds the things that are not said to be as important—and almost more interesting—as the things that are. Danny finds it useful to explore these moments through improvisation.
Danny is interested in the significance of the name ‘Brutus’, relating it to the word ‘brutish’. Danny believes that, as is indicated by the character's name, there is some level of ‘brutishness’ in Brutus that he fights throughout the play. Danny feels there is a constant battle between Brutus’ noble, intellectual character and his ‘brutish’ character.
The first few weeks of rehearsal have been exhausting for Danny because he has only just finished performing in a production of an opera called The Silver Lake at Wilton's Music Hall. During his initial weeks at the Globe he has finished rehearsals at 6:00 p.m. only to ‘dash’ over to Wilton's Music Hall for an evening performance. Fortunately, though, The Silver Lake has now finished its run and Danny can focus all his energy on Julius Caesar.
Danny feels that Brutus’ character doesn’t really emerge until after he has killed Caesar. Brutus’ feelings, motives, and character are really only displayed as he begins to deal with the repercussions of his actions. For the most part, others speak for him before the assassination. Danny currently views Brutus as a gentle man: a fair, concise, person who doesn’t like to raise his voice. He sees Brutus as the voice of reason in many cases, because he feels Brutus’ motives are very pure.
As part of his work Danny has researched the historical Brutus. Danny has found it most useful to research the relationships between the characters before the beginning of the play. Danny found the relationship between Brutus and Cassius particularly interesting. Through his research he learned that Brutus and Cassius are actually related and that prior to the events which open the play Brutus had been awarded a key position in preference to Cassius (his senior).
One way Danny prepares for a role is to write down all the things that are said about Brutus by other characters in the play. Danny tries to take a very ‘open’ approach to rehearsals and to remain receptive to new ideas - each time he rehearses one of Brutus’ scenes he learns something new. He acknowledges that there is still a long way to go, but he is confident that everything will fall into place before the first night!
Looking forward, Danny feels his biggest challenges are to decide to what extent Brutus was driven by ambition and to explore the differences between Caesar and Brutus. He is also working with the text and the physicality of the character, trying to establish a way for Brutus to move and speak that is different from his own.
Danny has never performed at the Globe before and so far has only had a little time to work in the theatre itself. The work that the company has done on the stage has been in front of tour groups - during rehearsals, Danny likes to take risks and try new things and this can be hard to do in front of a group of people. However, Danny says, it is what being an actor is all about. Danny feels very strongly that there are no wrong answers. For now, he is really looking forward to seeing how audiences will react to his choices when he finally gets to perform for the first time at the Globe.
Danny Sapani - Activities
These activities are based on the notes above. They are suggestions only; please feel free to devise your own. Please select the activities which are relevant to your group. You can send students’ work and suggestions from any of these activities to GlobeLink and we will be delighted to forward them to Danny.
The activities have been devised assuming the students know the story of the play.
Brutus’ CV
Danny likes to create a profile for his character in which he lists his/her title, education and family history – a little like a CV.
Write a CV for Brutus. Start by using Danny's headings, then add some of your own. You could look for information in the text, then use some of your own ideas to create a distinctive picture of Brutus. Send the CVs to Danny.
What is said about Brutus?
At the beginning of the rehearsal period Danny reads through the play and lists:
a) everything that is said about his character
b) everything that character says about him/her self
Make these two lists. What do you find out about the character by doing this? Send your lists and observations to Danny so he can compare them with his own.
What happens off stage?
Danny feels that many of Brutus’ important decisions or moments happen off stage. Danny finds it useful to explore these moments through improvisation.
What do you think happens to Brutus between his discussion with Cassius in Act 1 scene 2 and when we see him in his orchard in Act 2 scene 1. In small groups improvise your ideas. You could script extracts from your improvisation and send it to Danny or maybe record a section on audio or videotape.
Brutus – ‘the voice of reason’?
Look again at Danny's comments about Brutus’ character.
Do you agree with Danny? How would you describe Brutus? Find evidence in the text to support your ideas and send them to Danny.
Rehearsal Calls
Look at the copy of the call sheet for the first week of rehearsal. Work out what Danny would be doing on each day.
Either write a day or days in the life of your actor OR choose one scene Danny has worked on during the week and try out ways of playing it for yourselves.
Telling the story
Danny's biggest challenge at this stage in rehearsal is to ensure he tells the story of the play in a way which will communicate with the audience. One way the company work to do this is to read a scene and then improvise that scene, remembering it in as much detail as possible.
Working in small groups, try this exercise for yourself. How does it help you to focus on the story of that scene?
First Night Cards
Many actors are nervous about their first night and feel that cards bring them luck.
Make a first night card for your actor. Be as creative as you wish, you might like to make a card that contains some of your ideas about the character that your actor is playing.