JOY NESBITT
JULIUS caesar variety show
Written by Joy Nesbitt

A Black actor, a Woman actor, and a Straight White Male actor walk into a Shakespeare audition. What could go wrong?
Three actors from diverse backgrounds audition for a role in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Amidst a riot outside the theatre, they face an intensely respected director who is determined to reinvent the play through “unorthodox” methods, often at the expense of the actors' personal integrity. The audition becomes a battleground where the actors' identities are scrutinized, with an accompanist intensifying the director’s demands. As they navigate the director’s expectations, the actors grapple with how their identities alter the meaning of a play and the role that diversity and inclusion plays in reshaping the theatre industry.
Cast
Director – Ultan Pringle
Laurence Olivier – Daniel Mahon
Sidney Poitier – Loré Adewusi
Marlene Dietrich – Pattie Maguire
Musician – Conrad Jones Brangan
Team
Writer and Director – Joy Nesbitt
Producer — Dave Kelly
Set and Costume Design – Jack Rogers
Lighting Design – Pedro Pacheco
Sound Design – Conrad Jones Brangan
Awards & Reviews
Nominated for 4 Dublin Fringe Awards:
Best Ensemble
Fishamble New Writing Award
Radical Spirit Award
Solas Nua New Writing Award
“Nesbitt's driven satire drew on a very clear strain of historical abuse in Irish theatre..”
"When we watch a black actor (a nicely wary Loré Adewusi) being perceived by a white director only through demands of representativeness, as able only to play roles warped by violence, it opens up questions about an industry that produces only plays with majority white casts. Can we say this is fiction?"