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A CurtainUp Review
Antony and Cleopatra
By Elyse Sommer
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"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety"—Enobarbus |
Joaquina Kalukango and Jonathan Cake
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So what if this Cleopatra doesn't project a grand royal persona, as long as she and Antony really do come off as genuinely, passionately in love? And who cares that, despite the Haiti-France setting and the terrific Vodoo infused Afro-Caribbean music and dancing, it's a little odd to have the dialogue's still referring to Egypt and Rome.
Tarell Alvin McCraney's occasionally confusing and wrong-headed production manages to keep a tight grip on the audience. His visually stunning production never loses its momentum. A smaller than usual cast features just nine actors, most of whom adeptly take on multiple roles.
While movie stars like Claudette Colbert, Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor have made Cleopatra and Mark Antony one of the best known pair of star-crossed royal lovers, Shakespeare's history play based on their affair is neither his most popular or his best. It's also not easy to stage. Therefore a drastic re-editing by an imaginative playwright-director like Tarell Alvin McCraney is not a bad idea. Of the various versions of this play I've seen and reviewed, including one starring Vanessa Redgrave at this same theater ( review ), this production, despite its flaws and at times confusing multiple casting, is the liveliest I've seen, both in terms of the acting and staging.
Advance publicity describes McCraney's production as being radically re-edited. This terminology is intended to prepare audiences for seeing the Rome-Egypt political power game play out against a backdrop of Saint-Domingue on the cusp of Haiti's revolution against the French.
The parallel to Shakespeare's setting is theoretically apt even though out of sync with the text. As for anything radical about the text, the editing is mostly a case of repositioning dialogue but nothing is really altered. Thus Enobarbus still gets to speak the play's most famous lines, "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety." However, his role has been expanded to make him an almost constantly presence as the play's narrator. This enlightening character is vividly portrayed by Chukwudi Iwuji.
The staging is actually quite simple, with the fusion of the political and personal playing out on an essentially bare stage. Designer Tom Piper has created an all purpose environment with a set of marble columns and arches upstage. The only prop is a flowing silk curtain that metamorphoses most dramatically into a shimmering bath, a passage to the afterlife, and a canopy covering a sizzling love scene. This elegant simplicity works well except for the battle scenes which, with only a few warriors on stage, come off as rather anemic and incredible.
Joaquina Kalukango is a refreshingly young and fiercely independent (Cleopatras tend to be mature and often way older than Antony). However, by the time she has lost Antony and become enslaved by Rome (rather France) she is indeed a regal presence.
Most important, there's strong chemistry between her and Jonathan Cake. The British actor certainly brings plenty of potent sex appeal to the role and he speaks Shakespeare's words with natural ease. Kalukango's Cleopatra may take her time to achieve queenliness and Cake's Antony's initially botched suicide is likely to continue to cause unintended giggles as it did at the performance I attended — but what you're going to remember is their passionate embraces and ethereal final reunion.
Samuel Collings, one of the other single role players, brings just the right tone of stubborn authority and honorability to Octavious Caesar. Typical of double casting, there's a nice touch of irony in Charise Castro Smith's playing both Cleopatra's handmaiden and Caesar's sister Octavia who Antony marries in the interest of political expediency. That leaves the always outstanding Henry Stram to play the hapless messenger who must bring news of this marriage to Cleopatra. Stram also shines in two other roles.
Composer Michael Thurber's music is performed by him and three other musicians who are well situated in a small balcony. There's also some beautiful singing by triple role player Chivas Michael. Some of his songs are effectively delivered by a second small balcony fronted by a ladder. The Anspacher's four aisles are also frequently and effectively used.
Ultimately, Mr. McCraney is to be commended for giving us this fresh look at a play written more than 400 years ago. Some day someone is going to write a play that brings a character named Will Shakespeare back from the great beyond to witness and comment on these newly interpreted versions of his plays.
A caveat: If you're not familiar with the Antony and Cleopatra plot, get there early enough to read the synopsis included in the Playbill.
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Antony & Cleopatra by William Shakespeare Edited and directed by Tarell Alvin McCraney Cast: Jonathan Cake (Mark Antony) and Joaquina Kalukango (Cleopatra); Samuel Collings (Octavius Caesar), Ash Hunter(Alexas/Pompey/Scarus) Chukwudi Iwuji (Enobarus), Sarah Niles (Charmian/Menas), Charise Castro-Smith (Octavia/ Iras), Chivas Michael (Mardian/ Eros/ Soothsayer); Henry Stram (Messenger,Lepidus, Proculeius) Musicians: Akintayo Akinbode (percussion), Alex Jenkins (bass), John Kengla (guitar), Michael Thurber (bass) Design: Tom Piper Lighting: Stephen Strabriddge Audio System Design: Walter Trabach Composer: Michael Thurber Music Director: Akintayo Akinbode Choreographer: Gelan Lambert Fight Choreographer: Terry King Dramaturgs: James Shapiro and Catherine Sheehy Stage Manager: Martha Mamo Running Time: Approx 2 1/2 hours plus 1 intermission Co-production of Public Theater, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Miami's Gable Stage at Public Theater 420 Lafayette Street From 2/18/13; opening 3/05/14; closing 3/23/14 Reviewed by Elyse Sommer at March 1st press preview |
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