Caska

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In the Globe Theatre Company's production of Julius Caesar, Caska was played by Mike Rudko.

About Mike Rudko

The Globe is delighted that Michael has been able to come from the USA to join the red company this season. Michael has worked in productions on Broadway and Off-Broadway, playing roles as diverse as Dick in Serious Money and Jaques in As You Like It. Previous work in England includes True West for the Donmar Warehouse and the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Click on the numbered links to follow Mike's journey as he creates and plays the character of Caska in the Globe Theatre.

Mike Rudko - 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.

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Mike Rudko - 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.

Mike will be playing Caska, one of Caesar's conspirators. Mike finds that he works better if he starts rehearsals without any definite ideas about the character he will be playing – this way he can be more open to the director's comments. In rehearsals, Mike has focused on detailed character exploration, addressing questions such as what is Caska's exact position in the Senate? Mike notes that Caska quiets the throngs of people twice in the first scene of the play. Casca is also able to stab Caesar first which Mike feels may be because of all the conspirators Caska is the closest to Caesar. Besides his relationship with Caesar, Mike is also studying Caska's relationships with Brutus, Cassius (especially in the second scene), and Cicero. Mike is currently exploring why CasKa chooses to tell the story of Caesar's rejection of the crown in the way he does. Mike suspects he is trying to communicate something to Brutus and Cassius.

Much of the beginning of the rehearsal period has been dedicated to connecting with the other company members, memorising names and the parts that other people will be playing. Mike found that he connected very well with the actor who plays Mark Antony and wanted to experiment with that connection on stage—building a relationship between Mark Antony and Caska. However, when they examined the text, the only time that Mark Antony acknowledges Caska is after he murdered Caesar when he simply addresses him, mockingly as, "…my valiant Caska…" (Act 3, scene 1, line 187).

Mike is interested in the importance of body and spirit throughout the play. He points out that the spirit of Caesar is all that Brutus really wants to kill ("O that we could come by Caesar's spirit/ And not dismember Caesar!" Act 2, scene 1, line 164), but in fact, as Brutus comments, Caesar's spirit outlives them all ("O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet./ Thy spirit walks abroad and turns our swords/ In our own proper entrails." Act 5, scene 3, line 105.) The idea of the power of Caesar's spirit is mentioned even at the very beginning of the play in Act 1 Scene 2 when Cassius, works to ‘stir up’ Brutus’ feelings of jealousy telling him, "… ‘Brutus’ will start a spirit as soon as ‘Caesar’." (Lines 145-6). Mike will continue to look at the significance of body and spirit and the frequency of the use of those two words as the rehearsal period progresses.

Mike is very excited about the way the assassination is being rehearsed. Caska's line, "Speak hands for me!" (Act 3, scene 1, line76) is traditionally spoken before Caska stabs Caesar. However, in this production, the line will not be delivered until after Caska has stabbed Caesar and will be used as a way of saying to the other conspirators, ‘Join me in this!’ Mike notes the folio indicates that the stabbing happens after the line, but that in Plutarch's original manuscript, the lines are closer to the performance choices the company has made. In fact, in Plutarch's original manuscript, the line is said in Greek and is translated as ‘Brothers, help me.’ The fact that it was originally delivered in Greek makes Mike wonder about Act 1 Scene 2 where Caska claims he does not understand Cicero when he speaks in Greek. Mike wonders if Caska really did understand Greek, but did not wish to reveal the content of Cicero's speech to Brutus and Cassius - he is convinced that Caska knows more than he admits.

Mike feels that Caska might be afraid of Caesar and the consequences if he were to reveal privileged information. He notes that in historical sources Caesar does not appear to be as kind as he often presented in productions of Julius Caesar. Mike is exploring the ways that his character hints at this especially in lines such as "I can as well be hanged as tell the manner of it." (Act 1, scene 2, Line 235) and "I durst not laugh, for fear of opening my lips and receiving the bad air." (Lines 248-9.) Mike compares Caska to the ‘bad kid’ at the back of the classroom who doesn’t know how to join in with the class. The fact remains that Caska is not a soldier and therefore is different from most of the other characters in the play. In this production Mark Antony mocks Caska when he shakes his hand after the assassination – the form of address "valiant Caska" is used sarcastically.

The company have been exploring ways of playing Act 1 Scene 3. The whole scene could be performed with a lot of noise and chaos, but the company are experimenting playing it in an eerie silence based on the idea that when people are afraid, they do not necessarily scream and run about. Mike is glad to be given the opportunity to explore ideas in rehearsal that are not the obvious choices for a scene.

Mike is working to prepare himself to play for the audience in the Globe. He feels that the knowledge that the original Globe opened four hundred years ago will drive a lot of the energy behind his playing. Mike has never performed at the Globe before, but saw a performance last year – he remembers feeling incredibly involved in the show, even just as an audience member. Mike is curious, though, about how audience members—especially American ones—will react to hearing an American accent on the stage. More generally, he is interested to see how some of the choices that the company have made, such as all male casting, effect the audience's experience. Mike is also intrigued by the idea that Julius Caesar presents an Elizabethan view of Roman history, for him this adds another layer to the play and has brought a whole new set of challenges.

Looking ahead, Mike's biggest challenge is to play the changes in time and distance throughout the play so that they are real to the audience. Mike is most interested in story telling, making people forget that they are in a theatre when they’re watching the play. He admires actors such as Spencer Tracy and Ralph Richardson who he feels had an incredible command of their playing space, giving performances which were ‘honest’ or ‘truthful’. Mike's task, as he sees it, will be to engage his fellow actors and the audience and measure up to his own ideal of the best possible performance.

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Mike Rudko - 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 Ben.

The activities have been devised assuming the students know the story of the play.

Caska's CV

Mike likes to create a profile for his character in which he lists his title, education and family history – a little like a CV.

Write a CV for Caska. Start by using Mike'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 Caska. Send the CVs to Mike.

What is said about each character?

At the beginning of the rehearsal period Mike 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 for Caska. What do you find out about the character by doing this? Send your lists and observations to Mike so he can compare them with his own.

Act 1 Scene 2

Look again at Caska's speeches in Act 1 Scene 2.

Why do you think Caska tells the story of Caesar's rejection of the crown in this manner? What is he really thinking? Send your ideas to Mike. You could also try writing Caska's internal dialogue for one of these speeches.

"Speak hands for me"

Look again at Mike's comments on the delivery of this line in the assassination scene (Act 3 Scene 1).

In small groups try acting this moment for yourself – firstly delivering Caska's line after he has stabbed Caesar then again, this time delivering Caska's line before he has stabbed Caesar.

Which approach is most effective? Send your observations to Mike and advise him on how best to play this moment.

Chaos or Silence?

Look again at Mike's notes on the way in which the company are exploring Act 1 Scene 3.

Do you think the opening of this scene should be played in an atmosphere of chaos or silence?

In small groups try acting out this moment first with lots of noise, shouting etc. then in silence (apart from the person who is speaking).

Which is more effective? Use your discoveries to write Mike with advice on how to place that scene.

Rehearsal Calls

Look at the copy of the call sheet for the first week of rehearsal. Work out what Mike would be doing on each day.

Either write a day or days in the life of your actor OR choose one scene Ben has worked on during the week and try out ways of playing it for yourselves.

Telling the story

One of Mike's biggest challenges 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.

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