Review: ANTONY & CLEOPATRA, Shakespeare’s Globe
Photo credit: Ellie Kurttz
Antony & Cleopatra, that most binary of Shakespeare’s works, has kept academics busy for centuries, debating the differences between Rome and Egypt as presented in the play. Whether the difference is characterised as female Egypt against masculine Rome, or the certainties of the Romans against the vacillating of the Egyptians, the chosen reading can be difficult to present dramatically. In their new bilingual production, Shakespeare’s Globe have come up with a novel and thought-provoking take on presenting these two great nations.
Director Blanche McIntyre characterises the differences as the “young, macho… emotionally repressed” Rome whilst Egypt is ancient, gender-equal… playful, confident.” The production is bilingual with Roman characters using spoken language and the Egyptians communicating through British Sign Language (BSL). This immediately adds layers of meaning to many of the interchanges and also forces the hearing audience to watch and read more carefully than would sometimes be the case – as deaf people have to do all the time of course. Only Anthony and Cleopatra are truly bilingual, each able to communicate in the other’s language (and through their own invented home language), and the rest of the plot comes to life due to this bilingual setting, with its reliance on orders being misheard, intentions being misunderstood and messengers being misleading.
Four large screens display the text to all parts of the auditorium, one of these screens in the tiring house area. Simon Daw contributes a set of blue cloth hangings and a pillared upper area, while his costumes are more interesting, adopting a kind of Renaissance Roman look, suitable for the stylised battle scenes. As Cleopatra, Nadia Nadarajah is remarkable: she has an ability to express thoughts with her eyes and hands, explicable to a hearing person without constant reference to the captions. She is a volatile, mercurial Egyptian queen, as quick to despair as to be moved to sudden delight. Opposite her as Antony, John Hollingworth is authoritative and world-weary, conveying well his absolute love for Cleopatra and the ways in which this disrupts his soldierly and Roman instincts.
Many of the rest of the cast play multiple roles, and this would be clearer to the audience if their costumes were more contrasting. As Cleopatra’s handmaiden Charmian, Zoe McWhinney offers an intense and committed performance, and Nadeem Islam is always watchable as Mardian, and often very funny. As is sometimes the case with productions of this play, another performance that impresses is that of the actor playing Enobarbus. Daniel Millar makes much of the great passages of verse he is given and becomes the beating heart of the play, making much of his despair after he realises he should not have abandoned his support for Antony.
This bilingual production of Antony & Cleopatra is an interesting take on a complex and sometimes puzzling play; the interplay of spoken language and BSL adds some new dimensions and illuminates where there might otherwise be a tendency to obscurity.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Chris Abbott
Antony & Cleopatra plays at Shakespeare’s Globe until 15 September, with further info here.
