Little praise for outdoor ‘Caesar’

The alfresco Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival in Thousand Oaks offered free “festival” seating to most of its theatergoers during its first five years. But an admission price of $5 was imposed last year, and this year it has gone up to $8.

Still a bargain? Perhaps, if the audience amenities or the production values were rising along with the price.

That isn’t happening, however, judging from “Julius Caesar,” the first of two Kingsmen shows this summer.

The set consists of a bare-bones, two-level platform. The costumes are a little more ambitious. Director Allan Hunt set “Julius Caesar” in “1940 Metropolis,” according to a press release. So much of the cast is dressed up in snazzy period evening clothes.

Caesar (David Ralphe) is apparently a gangland boss, a generation older than his comrades. Most of his colleagues and foot soldiers carry side arms, which leads to an unfortunate lapse in logic as the play nears its end. When characters try to enlist others to hold their daggers while they commit suicide, one wonders why they don’t simply shoot themselves, which would require no assistance.

Mark Antony (Alessandro Trinca) is a boxer, apparently sponsored by Caesar. As dictated by the script, he emerges as one of boxing’s most suave and articulate public speakers. Cassius (Derek Medina) is lean and hungry-looking as required, and Brutus (Brett Elliott) has the square jaw of a guy who might have turned into Dick Tracy, in a better world.

To the extent that they can be heard and seen, the performances appear professional enough. But there’s the catch.

If you pay $50 or $35, you can sit fairly close to the stage -- but not on a chair, unless you bring your own. These “lawn boxes” are simply marked-off spaces on the grass. Not surprisingly, most theatergoers choose the $8 spaces on a sloping hill, considerably farther from the stage. A large grassy gap lies between the few who have “boxes” and the masses in the back. This odd arrangement distances most of the audience from the action and greatly discourages the sense of a communal experience. Also, the sound system that reaches those in the back is primitive. Words are fuzzy, half-distinct.

There are a few rows of hard plastic chairs available -- on the sides, far from the stage, with no rake for improved sight lines. On opening night, only one of these chairs was occupied.

The cast faces one additional impediment: recorded incidental music that becomes awfully intrusive at times, almost as if Rick Rhodes and Ron Komie thought they were scoring a syrupy tear-jerker.

Perhaps “Julius Caesar” isn’t the best choice for this venue. It’s a very urban play. Yet on a summer night in Kingsmen Park, on the campus of California Lutheran University, you can often hear the insects croaking more easily than you can hear the words of Shakespeare.

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‘Julius Caesar’

Where: Kingsmen Park, California Lutheran University, 60 W. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks

When: This Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, July 18-20, 8 p.m.

Ends: July 20

Price: $8-$50

Contact: (805) 493-3455

Running Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

David Ralphe...Julius Caesar

Brett Elliott...Brutus

Derek Medina...Cassius

Alessandro Trinca...Mark Antony

Matthew Henerson...Casca

Anne Lockhart...Calpurnia

Kevin P. Kern...Cinna

Elizabeth Reynolds...Portia

By William Shakespeare. Directed by Allan Hunt. Lighting by Sarah Pardee. Costumes by Bonnie Cherrie. Set by Owen Smith. Stage manager Susan Turner