Writer: William Shakespeare
Director: Blanche McIntyre
In Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra, politics and passions collide as the empires of Rome and Egypt clash. At the heart of this epic conflict are two great leaders from different cultures, with different ways to communicate, and who are very much in love. This infamous relationship is captured in The Globe’s bilingual production using both BSL and spoken English to represent the clashing of two languages and two cultures. With some scenes performed entirely in BSL, others in spoken English and some using both, the production is fluent and passionately staged. However, in design and direction, the world of Rome is sometimes an afterthought with much of the spirit remaining in Egypt.
Shakespeare avoids the battles of war and instead focuses on another kind of conflict. One of the heart, and in this production, also a desperate desire to connect. With different views and different lived experiences, Antony and Cleopatra must work hard to understand each other. Here Nadia Nadarajah’s Cleopatra and John Hollingworth’s Antony are intoxicating. This is beautifully portrayed when Nadarajah and Hollingworth communicate together only in their own ‘home signs’. No one else matters. They are connected in their own world.
All productions are captioned and yet for those who do not read BSL, the performers fill the stage as their entire bodies communicate. They stamp their feet when they need to be seen and Nadarajah entirely captures Cleopatra’s ‘infinite variety’ with feeling as hands move at an incredible pace carving the air and slicing the space with gestures of intent, fury and joy.
This energy continues in Cleopatra’s court with the cast creating a playful world of laughter and friendship between Cleopatra and her attendants. Natalia Alvarez’s simple costumes bring splashes of bright colour to an otherwise drab design with much of the stage draped in a washed-out navy blue, although a lovely touch is how designer Simon Dawthe fills the Egyptian air with the scent of sweet perfume.
This is Cleopatra and Antony’s play and this production makes clear why, but Gabriella Leon captivates as a devoted Iras, an outraged and put-upon Octavia set up by her brother and his men before being abandoned by Antony, and a cheeky Thyreus. Nadeem Islam delivers a joyfully perfect comic performance as Cleopatra’s messenger Mardian, desperately seeking to appease her while delivering ever worse fateful news of Antony’s deceit.
Daniel Millar’s portrayal of Enobarbus is intriguing. Not quite a true friend. Not quite foe, Enobarbus here is not so much in awe of Cleopatra as spiteful, almost ridiculing and sarcastically sending up Anthony and Cleopatra’s infamous ‘meet cute’. This Enobarbus seeks to connect somewhat with Cleopatra but it’s not enough and his spoken words are punctuated with misogynistic words and sentiments. Although this doesn’t ultimately allow us the full heartbreak when Enobarbus and Anthony lose their friendship, it does succeed in making us feel more for Antony.
In comparison to Egypt, Shakespeare’s Rome is the antithesis, and in these scenes, although there is a beautiful and fleeting moment that captures the spectacle of war, both costume and staging feel like a missed opportunity to fully create an unsettled world always on the brink of war. Until it isn’t, with the personal and political colliding and events taking a cataclysmic turn towards death.
As demonstrated in the performance, battles are pomp and ceremony, and secondary to feelings of loss, memorably captured in Adrian Woodward’s piercing lone trumpet. The final moments in Egypt are deeply moving. Mostly silent with the body fully immersed in the act of dying or grieving, the air is punctuated with intakes and exhalation of breaths and screams. Zoe McWhinney’s Charmain is heartbreaking.
To experience long moments of silence on stage might feel unusual or an uncomfortable experience for some and yet it isn’t and nor should it be, and this is the point, of course. Director Blanche McIntyre skilfully brings the audience into a world where we experience the full force of a tragedy and ultimately feel what it is like to fight with body and soul, for what and who you love.
Runs until 15 September 2024
