Julius Caesar Cast Bio | Edward

Ahead of the run, we've been interviewing the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School actors cast to play alongside theatre professionals, Julian Glover and Lynn Farleigh in Julius Caesar.

Here we get to know Edward, one of the Theatre School’s talented rising stars.

Edward Stone
Cassius

BOVTS: The Other in I Am The Wind (Directors’ Cuts, Wardrobe Theatre); Wally Webb/ Professor Willard in Our Town, John Wisehammer in Our Country’s Good, Torvald Helmer in A Doll’s House, Angelo in Measure for Measure, Pinchwife/ Sparkish in The Country Wife, David Rizzio in Vivat! Vivat Regina!, Helge/Lars in Festen, Alan Strang in Equus, Phaethon in Ovid. Pre BOVTS: Jordan in BUOY (Bloomsbury Theatre); Freddie Page in Deep Blue Sea (Warwick Arts Centre); Milky in Americana (Hungry Bitches Productions); Miles in Posh (Warwick Arts Centre),;Basford in Teechers (Pleasance Theatre, Islington); Sebastian in Twelfth Night (Warwick Arts Centre); Roald Dahl in BBC Special; Sam in Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? (The Loft Theatre); Navigator in S’Warm (Battersea Power Station). Other: Albert Kropp in All Quiet on the Western Front (Soho Playhouse, New York, 2016). Awards: Winner: Best Actor at London Student Drama Festival.

Where are you from and how did you get into acting?
I grew up in Stockwell, South London, with my parents, three dogs and a fervent relationship with Chelsea football club. I knew by the time I was 4 years old that I wanted to be an actor and thanks to my wonderfully supportive family, I was never dissuaded. I attended a small state school in Victoria where I did have the passion, but not really the means, to do a lot of drama and so was very grateful to receive an Acting Scholarship at Dulwich College where there was a wonderful theatre department - my first role coming in the form of female love-interest, Blousy Brown, in an all-boys production of Bugsy Malone in Year 6. Following school, I read Theatre and Performance Studies with modules in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I was able to continually explore acting & theatre in the various extra-curricular plays & performances I did with friends at the Warwick Arts Centre. Then following a year out to travel, work and audition for Drama School- I arrived in Bristol.

Who are you playing in Julius Caesar and what challenges have you faced in that role?
I am playing Caius Cassius, a character I was thrilled to be cast as. The challenge with Cassius I think, is his complexity - full of hate yet bound by love, devoting to the gods yet disdainful of the mortal world and self-hating whilst being erratically confident at points. He is an incredibly perceptive character and a brilliant tactician, although so consumed by his bond with Brutus that he allows for him to make evident strategic errors which throw the lives of the conspirators into jeopardy on three separate occasions. He has been great to play and explore so far in rehearsals, his character ark is a detailed one- I think we definitely see a different man at the end to the one we meet at the beginning.

What’s your favourite thing about training at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School?
Without sounding grossly cheesy, there isn't really one thing I could chose over the rest. It truly has been the best decision I ever made to train here - I love this school and am so grateful to have had two very challenging and fundamentally very rewarding years here, with a beautiful group of remarkably talented people. You could write down the stories and the going ons and the characters the you see everyday here, and honestly, I think a lot of people would think you were making it up. The lessons we are learning, the city we are living in, the people we are working with and the fun we are having is unparalleled I think.

How does it feel to be taking the Bristol Old Vic stage in your graduating show?
I am very excited and grateful. At the beginning of my training, if someone had offered that my graduating show to be on the main stage of the Bristol Old Vic with Julian Glover, Lynn Farleigh and John Hartoch (who was my Shakespeare auditioner when I applied for the school) I would have bitten their hand off. We have been saying to each other that this a gig that some actors may dream of for their whole careers and we're doing it whilst we're still training! Rehearsals are great to be in, the wisdom and the humour from Simon, Julian, Lynn and John is wonderful and now that we've just moved into the rehearsal room at the Bristol Old Vic itself, it all feels very close and exciting.

This June we reunite with Bristol Old Vic Theatre School to present Shakespeare’s riveting political drama Julius Caesar. For more info and to book tickets, click here.