By D. Kevin McNeir
Special to the AFRO
kmcneir@afro.com
The eloquent, emotionally charged words spoken by Malcolm X during the final days of his life, merge with the time revered speeches and scenes from William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” in D.C.’s Folger Theatre’s season opening production. The play, Julius X: A Revisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare,” opened Sept. 23 and will run through Oct. 26.
Infused with scenes which segue between Rome and 1960s Harlem, the script features the lyrical brilliance of spoken word artist Al Letson, and a performance by renowned Shakespearean actor and local favorite, Brandon Carter, who takes on the role of Malcolm X.
D.C.-based theater artist, Nicole Brewer, who directs the play, said the power of the work rests in the playwright’s ability to harmonize Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” with the life and legacy of civil rights icon Malcolm X.
“Letson’s poetry pulses with the rhythm of revolution, weaving Shakespearean drama into the raw urgency of the civil rights era,” Brewer said. “In many ways – whether through Shakespeare or American history – many people already know the story. But you’re compelled to watch it unfold again because of how Letson remixes his own verse, with excerpts from Malcolm X’s speeches and the most notable lines and scenes from ‘Julius Caesar.’”
Brewer added that “ultimately, ‘Julius X’ is a love story – the brotherly love that exists between Black men for their faith, their community and each other – struggling against internal and external forces that oppose the very existence of that love.”
Letson, a Peabody Award-winning journalist, podcast host and acclaimed comic book creator, credits comic books with teaching him how to read and helping him conquer dyslexia.
In true spoken word artist fashion, he describes how he became interested in developing a play that has since evolved into “Julius X.”
“‘Julius X’ was inspired by me being told that I wasn’t going to get cast for Mark Antony in a production of ‘The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.” Back then they weren’t doing colorblind casting,” he said in a statement. “So, I thought – ‘screw it, I’m going to write my own.’”
“I had a deep love for Shakespeare’s text when I was in the 10th grade – Mark Antony’s speech just blew me away,” said Letson. “I also read ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ when I was in 7th grade, and that stayed with me.”
“Julius Caesar and Malcolm X were very different men, but their circumstances overlapped well,” said Letson. “Malcolm was a man who was deeply committed to the fight for civil rights, and one of the most beautiful things about his life is that you can look at him and you can see him learn and change over time.”
Audiences urged to abandon role of spectator and instead, participate
Under the leadership of Karen Ann Daniels, artistic director and director of artistic programs, Folger Theatre’s foray into producing selected works by Shakespeare in nontraditional fashion has already been well received by audiences in the Greater Washington Area.
In October 2024, “Romeo and Juliet” garnered record crowds, including large groups of area high school students who were captivated by the production. Changes to the play which illustrated 21st century American society included a multiracial cast of Black, White, Asian and Hispanic thespians, interracial marriages, bilingual speakers and the frequent use of modern modes of transportation and communication.
But what can audiences expect when they see “Julius X?”
“This is not the story you know, but somewhere in-between’ is how “Julius X” begins, reminding us that this story is not fact but an imagined truth that blends two iconic historical characters,” Daniels said in a statement. “Just like Shakespeare did with ‘Julius Caesar’, which he adapted from Plutarch, Al Letson creates a dramatized mythology of Malcolm and Caesar to help us explore the struggle for power, friendship and free will in our own age.”
Sound designer Thom Woodward advises that the best way to experience “Julius X” is to feel like you’ve been invited to join the production.
“The flow and the environment that have been created are almost rooted in the Black Church experience,” he said. “And in the spirit of the Black Church, all are welcome – not as a voyeur– but as a participant. So, what’s happening on the stage in this ‘Harlemesque’ location, is a world in which the audience is similarly invited to join in and experience for themselves – the space, the sounds, the environment.”
Brewer added she hopes as audiences leave the play, and if she and the crew have done their job, that people will leave with more questions to be resolved than answers.
“It is not the role of art to look to curate or shape something in the minds of the audience,” she said. “In this production, we are revisiting the myths associated with people and examining what happens when we elevate someone to the level of icon. What, as individuals, do they gain and what do they lose?”
“If nothing else,” said Brewer, “The play reveals a sense of unity that is conditional and rests on the notion that we are of one mind, doing what the leader desires. But what happens when one strays away? That’s when we have a problem.”
For tickets or more information, visit www.folger.edu/juliusx.
