Interview: Charlotte B. Larson And Audrey Sweet of JULIUS CAESAR by The Queens Men At Trinity Theatre Company
This weekend only, August 15–17, Trinity Theatre Company’s Mission Valley stage will trade togas for turf as The Queens Men group will bring a fresh, hard-charging twist to Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” In this bold reimagining, co-directors and producers Charlotte B. Larson and Audrey Sweet set the classic tale of political ambition and betrayal in the fiercely competitive world of a high school girls’ soccer team called ‘The Romans.” Featuring an all-female and non-binary cast, the production blends Shakespeare’s timeless power struggles with the raw energy, rivalries, and shifting alliances of modern youth sports.
True to The Queen’s Men’s mission to reshape the theatrical canon through diverse perspectives, bold interpretations, and radical collaboration, this Julius Caesar invites audiences to see both the play and its players in a new light. In this interview, Larson and Sweet to talk about the inspiration behind the setting, how the adaptation reshapes key moments in the text, the way their ensemble transforms dynamics of loyalty and betrayal, and how their creative partnership fuels the work both on and off the field.
To start, they discuss the inspiration to set this version of “Julius Caesar” on a high school girls’ soccer team and why that not just makes sense, but also makes the play more relatable than ever.
Audrey Sweet: “I think the story and ideas explored in Julius Caesar feel very pertinent to today, with questions about personal ambition versus loyalty and when individuals have a responsibility to stand up to the abuse of power—but the original historical setting of Shakespeare's play can make it feel very distant. We wanted to bring Caesar to our audience in a way that would feel familiar, and make the characters people they would understand and relate to. The play may be hundreds of years old, but the questions it asks are still relevant in our lives today.”
Charlotte B. Larson: The soccer team setting doesn’t necessarily have one clear influence. My dad has always loved soccer. He played in high school and watches the FIFA World Cup every four years, so he was really the one who introduced me to the sport. I remember one time watching the World Cup with him and realizing, “Wow, these guys take this SO seriously.” Winning was everything to these grown men to the point that they would fake serious injuries, which rang some familiar cesarean bells for me.
Ultimately, the girls’ high school soccer team isn’t a novel concept. I’m a big fan of both Sarah DeLappe’s "The Wolves" and Showtime’s "Yellowjackets." Both of which are very Caesarian in themselves as well, which I think is very telling. When women are pitted against one another, it can get so vicious. In an early draft of the concept, we discussed including aspects of the college athlete process; Caesar was supposed to be a D1 Stanford commit. But we scrapped that idea when we realized that we were getting away from the true heart of Caesar, honor, the dangers of tyranny, and betrayal.
Charlotte B. Larson & Audrey Sweet - Photo Credit: The Queen’s Men and Trinity Theatre company
Shakespeare has been adapted in a multitude of ways. Still, both Sweet and Larson say their adaptation ended up showcasing different characters in a new light and creating interesting dynamics within the story.
Larson: “I knew that we would want to zero in on the catty-ness of the play, which, quite frankly, is already extremely catty. There were obviously pronouns that were changed, and certain words were altered to fit the American high school setting better. But, I think our most dramatic changes from Shakespeare’s original text were our decisions concerning the wives of Caesar and Brutus.
We decided to combine Calpurnia (Caesar’s wife) and Octavius (Caesar’s adopted son) into one character, Octavius (Caesar’s little sister). I think it ended up adding more fuel to Octavius’ eventual revenge arc against the conspirators. It became less about honoring Rome and more about making sure Caesar’s murderers were brought to justice. Portia was another story; we felt that she was incredibly important to Brutus’ arc of guilt and eventual acceptance. She acts as a sort of conscience to Brutus in their one scene together, so we didn’t want to cut her presence or combine her with another character like we did with Calpurnia. Instead, she’s become a vital part of the team throughout the show, which makes her fight with Brutus in Act 2, Scene 1 all the more messy.
The original Roman politics of Caesar can get confusing for the average human being. In an ideal world, all Americans would understand the ins and outs of a Roman Republic, given that our government is partially based on it, but realistically, that’s just not the case. I think re-contextualizing Caesar with teenage girl politics can help break down the intricacies of the piece. Hopefully, it will help people understand our own government a little more during a time when a modern tyrant is threatening our own Republic. Ultimately, there aren’t so many differences between Rome in 44 BC and America in 2025.”
Sweet: “There are many lines that you hear differently when spoken by a teenage girl than by a middle-aged man, little comments that become more personal, or funny, or call to mind different associations. Our concept obviously changes Shakespeare's story in many ways, but one of my favorite things our production does is give Portia's character more agency. In the original text, she is limited to being simply the loyal wife whose concerns are easily dismissed, and I think by making Brutus her equal we've opened up some interesting new dynamics in their relationship, even as they speak the same lines every Portia tells her Brutus.”
The cast ofr "Julius Caesar" - Photo Credit: The Queen’s Men and Trinity Theatre company
Additionally, having an all-female and non-binary ensemble further highlights the shift in the dynamics of power, loyalty, and betrayal. Particularly in this moment, where power and choice are being stripped away from people by politicians and the government above them.
Sweet: “The idea of power and who deserves to hold it resonates very differently when staging this show with all female and non-binary actors. The characters' struggle for control and desperate wish to be powerful feels more personal. It carries more weight when they are portrayed by people who, in our society, are not typically seen as powerful. And because we've made all the characters so young, just starting to figure out who they are, the choice between loyalty and betrayal becomes even more momentous for them. Brutus's deliberations aren't just a man trying to decide the right thing to do; they're a girl trying to decide the kind of woman she will be.”
Larson: “It certainly makes things very personal for quite a few of the characters. Even just aging the characters down makes the conspirators' quest to murder Caesar for 'the good of Rome' largely based on personal issues with Caesar. Jealousy is always a prevalent theme in Julius Caesar, but it feels especially present with an all-female/non-binary cast.”
The mission of the group, The Queen’s Men, emphasizes reshaping the theatrical canon and inviting new voices into classical work. With that in mind, they loved having the experience of applying this mission to a classic like “Julius Caesar.”
Sweet: “As a woman who is deeply passionate about classical work, it often feels like some of Shakespeare's plays are off-limits, Caesar included. Shakespeare did write strong female characters, but they tend to dominate the comedies, while his more serious pieces are typically centered around men. Caesar has so many fascinatingly complex characters, so we were really excited to give people who wouldn't traditionally be cast in these parts the chance to bring their creativity, passion, and unique perspectives to these classic roles. Our actors have a wide range of experience with Shakespeare's work, some having loved it for years and some for whom this is their first Shakespearean production, but they have all done an incredible job of embracing what makes this play so enduring while finding ways to make these characters decidedly their own.”
As co-directors and producers, Charlotte and Audrey found that having worked together previously helped them collaborate on this show to create a production that was smart, creative, and challenging in a way that elevated it beyond what they would have done on their own.
Larson: “I started thinking about this particular concept in Summer 2024, but the idea didn’t really take off until Winter 2024 when I asked Audrey to come on board. I’m a very detail-oriented, emotion-focused director, so I knew I needed a partner who was text-focused and big-picture focused. Audrey was the first person I thought of. She’s sharp, intelligent, very down to earth, and isn’t afraid to challenge me, which is why I think we work so well together. I would never want to work with someone who agreed with everything I said; you never learn anything that way. We spend a lot of time simply discussing. The exchange of ideas between the two of us is one of my favorite parts of our partnership.”
Sweet: “Char and I have known each other for a long time and are very familiar with each other's styles of working, which has made it easy to collaborate on this show. We're constantly bouncing ideas off each other and will quite literally finish one another's sentences, but we also both have very distinct strengths that we've brought to this production. I love diving into Shakespeare's language and exploring all the nerdy little details. Char is really good at unlocking the emotional heart of the story and bringing it into the modern day, so working together, we're able to elevate this piece beyond what either one of us could create alone.”
How To Get Tickets
The Queen’s Men will present their "Julius Caesar" at TrinityTheatre Company's Mission Valley location in the Mission Valley Mall from August 15th to 17th. For ticket and showtime information, please go to trinityttc.org/current-productions/