Assassination was never meant to be as much fun as this.

Julius Caesar An Oddsocks Production, at The Belgrade Theatre B2 Stage, from 17 – 19 June.

Review by Pete Walters

As Big Julius collapsed, gently, under the flashing blades of his murderers, his cry of 'infamy, infamy' had the audience in fits, conjuring as it did the shade of one Kenneth Williams.

After thirty-five years of touring the country, Oddsocks know just how to draw us watchers into their madcap world. 

They don't over-play it; the words and the narrative are still William Shakespeare's, complete with all the most famous lines. But it's just the little touches that work so well - a local reference, in our case to 'the villagers of Spon End', a crisp or two pinched from a front-row bag to prompt an unscripted spluttering, a battle scene in which a Roman Army 'tortoise' emits a honking alarm as it reverses.

Andy Barrow leads a five-strong cast as Brutus, and is the only one who doesn't play multiple parts. His fellow Oddsocks co-founder Elli Mackenzie is a hoot as Roman newsreader or imperial wife and there are loads of funny moments along the way for the other three members of the cast, Cameron Robertson, Matthew Christmas and Mark Peachey.

It's not so much about the individual performances, though, but more about some lovely ensemble-playing that tweaks the audience funny bone to perfection. And that's perhaps how Shakespeare's play might have originally played in some tavern courtyard somewhere.

All in all, a fun couple of hours and if you miss the final Coventry performances today (Wednesday 19 June) Oddsocks will be doing it all again at Compton Verney on July 12.

Worth catching if you can.

For more information go to their website: https://www.oddsocks.co.uk/juliuscaesar-

For ticket go to: https://www.belgrade.co.uk/events/julius-caesar/