“Ladies and gentlemen, CET is back!” Quinn Strassel called into the sea of students gathered in Community High School’s Craft Theater for an informational meeting about Community Ensemble Theater’s next play, Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” Over a month after “Evita,” the last CET production, ended, CET is preparing to crank into high gear and begin Julius Caesar with guest director Aral Gribble.

According to Strassel, who has directed most of CET’s productions in the past, Gribble has worked in some of the best professional theaters in Michigan. He has taught, directed, and acted, and is more than ready to take on the challenge of producing a lengthy historical Shakespeare play in a high school theater without boring the audience to tears.

As is customary for CET, Gribble plans to modernize “Julius Caesar,” turning it into a contemporary criticism of politics and election fever: Caesar and the Senate members will wear suits, the mobs of Rome will sport Occupy Wall Street banners, and the balcony from which Evita sang in November will be reworked into the Roman-style facade of the White House. Gribble plans to make the play up close and personal for the audience by staging it on a thrust stage and having actors moving around the perimeters of the room, occasionally shooting over the audience’s heads.

Gribble’s most ambitious plan involves the formation of a whole new crew. In addition to the usual lights, sound, sets, props, costumes, and makeup, Gribble’s seventh crew will use projections to bring the production to a whole new modern level of social media. From fake newscasts to flame wars on youtube to Twitter feeds liveblogging the events of the play, the Film and Projections Crew will try to bring the play even more thoroughly into our modern era, while also providing a running summary of events for those who can’t easily understand Shakespearean English.

Gribble made it clear in the mass meeting that he wanted to give students a lot of autonomy for this play, especially on the technical side. He plans to give crewheads the freedom to design certain aspects of the show, and a half hour of the meeting was spent brainstorming ideas for the modernization of the play. For those more interested in music than acting or building, Gribble also mentioned that “Julius Caesar” will include an original song composed by students.

The casting for “Julius Caesar” will be completely gender free, so girls should feel free to try out for the title role of Julius Caesar himself. For those who weren’t at the mass meeting, participation forms and audition materials can be found in Quinn’s room and submitted to CET President Gabrielle Vuylsteke, CET Vice President Gabby Thompson, or Student Tech Director Rachel Blakemore. Students can sign up for an audition time slot on the door of the Craft Theater, with auditions to take place Jan. 8 and 9. Callbacks for the leads will take place Jan. 10, and on Jan. 11 the entire cast and crew will meet to read through the play.

Julius Caesar will be playing in the Craft Theater March 14-17. Tickets will be available online through showtix4u.com