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Plays › The Tragedy of Julius Caesar › First Citizen

First Citizen

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar · 18 speeches across 2 scenes

A Roman citizen in the crowd, easily swayed by rhetoric. Represents the common people's volatile power.

Who they are

As part of the Roman mob, Plebeians 1 moves from supporting Brutus to being incited by Antony's funeral speech. This character triggers the chaos that follows Caesar's murder, embodying the fickle public opinion that politicians manipulate. Key interactions are with the other plebeians, Brutus, and Antony.

Playing them

Play the crowd's energy—shift from thoughtful listener to passionate rabble-rouser. Start curious and respectful during Brutus's speech, then grow agitated and vengeful through Antony's. Use physicality to show the mob mentality: mirror others, move restlessly. Voice should climb in pitch and volume as anger mounts.

Appearance

No specific stage directions for this role; historically performed by actors in rough tunics or simple Roman garments to denote a worker. The character blends into the crowd but can be distinguished by being the first to react.

Where they appear

Play First Citizen

Take the part and Yorick reads every other role aloud, following you line by line as you speak.

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Shakespeare the way it was meant to be had — out loud

These plays were written to be performed, not silently read. Yorick is a rehearsal app that lets you perform them: you take a part in any of Shakespeare’s 38 plays, and Yorick reads every other role aloud, listens while you speak your lines, keeps your place, and prompts you the moment you dry.

It is built for the person who has to be off book by tech week — school and college productions, community theatre, festivals, drama students and classical auditions — and for anyone who wants to hear a scene rather than skim it. Alongside the performance you get a plain-English translation of every speech, scene context, performance notes, and the ability to ask about any line and get an answer that already knows the play, the scene and who is speaking.

The text is the public-domain Cambridge/Globe edition. Translations and notes are AI-generated rehearsal aids for actors and students, not a scholarly apparatus. Yorick runs in a browser with nothing to install, and on iPhone and Android.