Julius X, Folger Theatre
Julius X , a bold adaptation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar by Al Letson, takes its inspiration from the idea that Malcolm X and Caesar led lives with startlingly similar trajectories, and that their stories could combine into a new epic that blended Shakespeare's verse with the poetry and prose of Letson alongside the words of Malcolm X. The cast of Folger Theatre's production of Julius X: A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, written by Al Letson and directed by Nicole Brewer, on stage at the Folger Shakespeare Library, September 23-October 26, 2025. Photography by Erika Nizborski. In the realm of theatrical stagings of this idea, there are a myriad of ways to explore these parallels--it's easy to imagine a world where only Shakespeare's texts exist but a Black actor playing Caesar is given horn-rimmed glasses and design choices place us into the American 1960s, and at the other end of the spectrum, an entirely new pla...
