In Antony & Cleopatra the clash of civilisations is set against the intimacy of a tender love story and the epic struggle between Rome and Egypt comes to represent the conflicting impulses that exist within each of us.

Dr Vanessa Byrnes intelligently reworks the text to emphasise inner emotion over public spectacle and retains much of the poetic complexity of Shakespeare’s verse.

The fast-paced staging brings clarity to the play’s fickle changes in fortune and lends momentum to the frequent transitions as the action swings between Egypt and Rome. [More]

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Antony and Cleopatra was probably first performed around 1607, with Shakespeare taking much of his inspiration from Thomas North’s translation of Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans Compared Together. The most recognisable section of this translation is the description of Cleopatra in her barge, and it is this well-known and beautiful passage of poetry that opens and closes this version of the play.

Performed with music as a chorus by the majority of the actors in the company, it is a strong example of the innovative approach this production takes. They use the space on the stage to create an image of richness and power that invites the audience to be enthralled by Cleopatra in the same way that Antony is.

The actors show a great understanding of the Pop-Up Globe space throughout the production. They play to all areas of the space and invite the audience to be involved in the action, speaking directly to individuals and pleading with groups to help bring Antony to Cleopatra’s monument. The speed and variety of exits and entrances keep the play moving forward quickly and effectively.

The use of music, composed by cast member Sarah Nessia, and song is powerful throughout the production. The opening song – which is revisited several times throughout the production – is suitably foreign to the ear, lending a sense of exoticism and otherness. It is impressive to see the cast’s musical talents allowed to shine here, and the use of drums, flute, guitar and violin is generally applied with a sure and atmospheric touch. However, on a few occasions the actors have to work very hard to be heard over some of the more intense drumming.

In her programme notes, director Vanessa Byrnes tells us that she has ‘taken huge liberties with the text’, most noticeably in the way that characters are amalgamated to streamline and clarify the two very different worlds within which the play unfolds. A great example of this is the use of Dolabella (Brianna Jude) and Alexis (Amber Liberté) as mystic figures who represent Rome and Egypt respectively.

These two mysterious figures haunt the stage before the action proper begins, creating an atmosphere of intrigue and suspense. They are the characters who move most often between the two worlds, giving visions of the future and trying to counsel their unruly leaders. They are also pivotal to the very clever staging solution that deals with removing the increasing number of dead bodies from the stage as the play goes on.

Byrnes also tells us that, for her, Antony and Cleopatra is ‘a play of dichotomies’. These dichotomies are made very clear in the visual aspects of the production. The costuming (designed by Rhiana Crawford) gives a constricted, fascist, Aryan aesthetic to the Roman characters, who are dressed in black with very blonde hair, while the Egyptians are dressed in flowing cream or white, with red or dark hair.

These visual contrasts are very successful in allowing us to place the characters firmly in their worlds and so help the clarity of the storytelling enormously.

The behaviour of the characters in these two different worlds is also very contrasting, and this is an aspect that I find less successful. Some of the scenes with Octavius and his supporters show a level of ‘camp’ and gossipy-ness that jars with my view of these characters as part of a powerful empire. I also feel the actors tend to “saw the air too much with (their) hand” in these scenes which also distracts from my view of these characters as worldly and powerful.

Michael Jamieson plays Octavius Caesar as fastidious and somewhat effeminate, and although this suits the oily machinations of the character and makes a clear contrast with Reuben Bowen’s bluff and earthy Mark Antony, for me it does not fit comfortably with the driving ambition and ruthlessness of the character.

This approach to Caesar and his followers does allow the more comedic elements of the play to be brought to the fore, in the same way that the Egyptian characters display a level of casual bitchiness that invites the audience to revel in the interchanges between Cleopatra and her women.

Rhian Firmin and Sarah Nessia (as Charmian and Iras respectively) create some very effective moments of fun with their responses. They listen and respond the whole time they are on stage and create a very believable support-system for Cleopatra. Their brief romantic interactions with their Roman counterparts give us glimpses of fully developed characters that have their own lives and concerns separate to those of Cleopatra.

Antony and Cleopatra are Shakespeare’s most mature lovers, but here Natasha Daniel takes a very youthful approach to Cleopatra. Described as having ‘infinite variety’, Cleopatra is a capricious and changeable woman. She is vain and often self-centred, and sometimes Daniel shows this in a way that reminds me more of a teenager than a queen of Egypt. She is prone to throwing her arms around to show her displeasure and for me this jars against the maturity of the play. However, she is impressive in the final scenes, showing a depth of emotion that is very affecting.

As Antony, Reuben Bowen has gravitas and speaks the verse clearly and intelligently. His Antony is not worldly-wise and sometimes his youthful energy reminds me more of an erratic Romeo than a man striving to take control of the civilised world. He is, however, always watchable and creates an impressive depth at the heart of the production. His response to Eros’ death and subsequent decisive action show a man who is used to taking charge and we mourn his passing as fully as Cleopatra does.

Throughout the production, the verse is crisp and clear, spoken with real understanding of the metre and the meaning. Byrnes credits this observation of ‘the rules of text and metre’ to her time spent teaching at Toi Whakaari and Assistant-Directing at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, and it pays dividends for this cast.

The energy and commitment of the cast is obvious throughout the play and there are moments that linger long after the play ends: Pompey and his crew are endearingly rough and ready, and the use of movement and song in Pompey’s death is thrilling; letters flutter from the upper gallery to represent Cleopatra writing every day to Antony while he is away; Eros (Tyler Warwick) refuses to follow Antony’s orders and takes his own life instead, bringing gasps from the audience.

This is a production that takes a huge and complex story and tells it clearly, quickly and with obvious enthusiasm. It is innovative and often arresting, showing that Shakespeare’s plays, in the right hands, are still capable of surprising us.

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