Ambition's Debt (2017)

Ambition’s Debt: Directed by Devin E. Haqq. With Assol Abdullina, Brandt Adams, Emmanuel Awe, Michelle Beck. Set in a post-apocalyptic world and adapted from William Shakespeare’s epic tale of honor, ambition, betrayal, and the supernatural.

“Ambition´s Debt is an ambitious attempt to set William Shakespeare´s Julius Caesar in a post-apocalyptic setting. That in itself is a very intriguing idea. Unfortunately, the final product has numerous flaws, beginning with the camera work (nothing says ¨You are watching a film¨ like white lines across the screen and large patches of colored light reflected off camera lenses). Some of the acting also seemed uneven and forced. Although the performances of Brutus and Caesar were excellent, many of the actors seemed uncomfortable with the language and intoned phrases inappropriately for their intended meanings.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy final issue with this production is the bizarre ten-minute ending of credits with no further acting but more of the play´s dialogue delivered to accompany images of billowing gray clouds and bombed-out apartment buildings. This production might have been better on the stage, with actors still present for the final beseechments of Brutus.”