Antony and Cleopatra

Antony and Cleopatra, 3 March - 13 May 2018 (Bell Shakespeare; Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne). Directed by Peter Evans.

Catherine plays: Cleopatra.

It's been a while since I've seen a William Shakespeare play. So before I went to see Antony and Cleopatra, I decided to read through the play online to get a feel for the words because I know it can be hard to understand. And I'm glad I did, because Bell Shakespeare's presentation of this play, though modern in style and look, still used the Shakespearean text.

Catherine plays Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, whose relationship with Mark Antony (Johnny Carr) is putting strains on not only her own power, but his (being a Roman General) as well. The play begins in Alexandria, where the pair are alone on the stage. Cleopatra says one of her famous lines, "If it be love indeed, tell me how much", Antony replies and they both laugh and fall to the floor, where they make out. All the other actors begin to walk onto the stage. I liked the slow motion movement of this, which was done throughout several other scenes as well.

When some of the scenes changed, a sheer curtain was pulled across the stage by one of the actors and writing was projected onto it, letting the audience know what had happened (or the year) rather than have the actors play it out. Lighting also changed to indicate a change in location. For example, Cleopatra's scenes are mostly in Egypt, where the lighting was warm; either red or orange/yellow. When scenes were elsewhere, such as Rome, the lighting was blue. I thought this was clever and simple too, rather than have a backdrop or something similar.

I guess the odd thing about Antony and Cleopatra is that the titular couple don't actually have that many scenes together when I think about it. Most of the time Antony is in Rome and other places, and Cleopatra in Egypt. When they do have scenes together (with the exception of the first scene), most of the other actors/characters are on the stage too, which seemed to take away a bit of the intimacy between the couple, even though the other actors were standing or sitting still. I did believe their relationship though, and got a sense of a pretty strong bond. There was a really nice scene when Cleopatra is sitting on the ground, and Antony is laying down with his head in her lap and she's gently stroking his hair and face.

I really enjoyed Catherine's portrayal of Cleopatra, she has a knack for livening up scenes when she is in them. It's not the stereotypical Cleopatra which has been portrayed over the years - her clothes are different (she wears a black suit, a half unbuttoned white shirt with French cuffs and bra showing underneath, along with stiletto boots), her hair slightly messy and blonde-ish in colour. Some of Cleopatra's lines are rather funny, and Catherine played to the comedy of them so well: "Dull of tongue and dwarfish!", in response to Alexas' (Janine Watson) report that Octavia (Ursula Mills) is shorter than Cleopatra and has a low voice, and "Though it be honest, it is never good to bring bad news" and "I cannot hate thee more than I already do" when Alexas tells her that Antony had married Octavia. "Oh happy horse. To bear the weight of Antony!" was also a great line/scene as well, when Cleopatra is wondering what Antony is doing. There is actually quite a bit of funny sexual innuendos in the text, which can be missed if you don't listen carefully!

Of the other actors, I enjoyed Ray Chong Nee's performance as Enobarbus, and Johnny Carr as Antony. Janine Watson and Zindzi Okenyo as Cleopatra's attendants Alexas and Charmian were also good too. There was a liberating dance towards the end, where Cleopatra comes to realise that, after Antony's death, the only way to be with him now was for herself to die too. The whole cast did a great job dancing to Nick Cave's 'Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow'; it was well choreographed.

Overall, I thought Antony and Cleopatra was a pretty good play and it certainly had elements in it that I wasn't expecting upon entering the theatre!

***½