Antony and Cleopatra

Synopsis

Antony and Cleopatra tells of the overwhelming passions of two magnetic personalities who hold the destiny of a third of the world in their hands. Antony is a warrior and a lover, torn between his military duties and the erotic charms of the sensuous Egyptian court. At the heart is Cleopatra. "Serpent of old Nile", storym and unpredictable. Their love eventually triumphs with their noble deaths, but not before all else is lost.

Our Review:

13 December 2010

Michael Boyd's Courtyard production comes to London bringing a world high on political struggle but low on private passion to the cavernous Roundhouse.

Straddling the ancient world with today’s Middle-East, Boyd’s production captures the shifting sands of the political in-fighting but the central theme of doomed, middle-aged passion gets somewhat lost along the way.

Kathryn Hunter's exotic and sinuous Cleopatra, has plenty to recommend her. This is a natural show-woman and one can see her appeal for Antony. But her voice, burdened with a thick accent, is often lost in the echoing space of the Roundhouse. I struggled to catch every word from three rows back, so one wonders how those in the balcony fared. But there two sides to the relationship and Darrell D'Silva's blunt and martial Antony looks far more at home on the battlefield than in Cleopatra’s chamber.

Boyd's production is very strong on the political machinations – one c...

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Latest User Review

Paul Wallis - 18 December 2010:

Very poor -not up to RSC standard. The story was poorly defined, the acting generally poor. Kathryn Hunter was the one bright spot but she was let down as were we by a very sub standard production...

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