It is a Wednesday afternoon. The theater is empty.

The house lights dance around the room as cast members fill the aisles with flower petals.

Caesar is coming! He’s coming! Caesar is coming!

It’s the second to last rehearsal before opening night.

“None of us including J have ever done anything like this,” senior Claire Apple said.

The this Apple is talking about is Rider Theater’s main stage presentation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, post-apocalyptic style. Opening night starts at 7:30 p.m. tonight, followed by a Saturday and Tuesday performance at the same time, and a Sunday performance at 2:30 p.m. Theater students say teacher Paul Jefferson decided to do this play in a post-apocalyptic time period because he wanted something that would be interesting and new. Along with the post-apocalyptic twist, females will be playing parts that were originally cast for men.

“We wanted to give women the chance to play these parts that were written for men, but play them as strong female parts,” senior Cameron Sonsini said.

Senior Bonnie Lambert plays the character of Cassius who persuades the people to go through with the assassination of Caesar. Lambert believes that playing this part as a woman has a different feel to it but at the same time, is more interesting to see.

“Not many women especially in Shakespeare’s shows are put into that kind of position where they get to be powerful,” Lambert said.

Cast members have been rehearsing for Julius Caesar since the last week of October, and even performed a small part of the play to students during their English classes. To get a better understanding of their characters, the actors have used different techniques of preparation. Senior Colby Thompson who plays the part of Brutus said sitting around a table together interpreting lines into modern day English helped him gain a better understanding of the play. For junior Emily Frerich, researching interpretations of the play online helped her gain a better understanding.

“My best friend during this show was Sparknotes, No Fear Shakespeare,” Frerich said.

As the play transitions from the first act to the second, some actors also transition into different characters. Senior Joey McGinn plays a conspirator in the first act, then a soldier in the second act.

“When the armor comes on, the sword comes on, the boots and the uniform come on, it sort of pieces [the character transition] together for me,” McGinn said.

Cast member say that they love Shakespeare’s plays and they hope everyone will enjoy this version of it. Senior Cameron Sonsini who plays the part of Julius Caesar says that in every play he learns something new. For this production, he says the lesson learned is that power has an effect on people.

“They way you present yourself, the way you carry yourself, can really display your power and your authority,” Sonsini said. “I had to work a lot on that because I have never played a character with that much authority and power.”

Sonsini also says that in doing this play, they learned the correct way to read Shakespeare.

“If I ever do another Shakespeare play again or even in contemporary pieces [Shakespeare’s technique] still comes in handy,” Sonsini said.