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[theatre] Antony and Cleopatra (Globe, 06-Jul-14)
Tuesday, July 8th, 2014 06:40 pmGlobe Theatre: Antony and Cleopatra (until 24-Aug-14)
I studied Antony and Cleopatra for 'O' level, back when they had 'O' levels: I don't think I've ever seen a live performance, and this was a splendid one to start with. The contrast between Cleopatra's initial joie de vivre and the dignified misery of her end was very much in evidence. Eve Best was fantastic at portraying Cleopatra's infinite variety -- from flighty and jealous to queenly and political -- and Clive Wood made a very credible Antony, a bluff soldier who's found love, unlooked for, late in life. (He's not stupid: he knows how mercurial she is, though it can't be said he's wholly successful at dealing with her.) Phil Daniels as Enobarbus was suitably slithy, and Sirine Saba was a fabulous Charmian who added much of the 'between the lines' humour with her immaculate comic timing.
I liked the staging, too: the Roman scenes done in 16th-century Italian court dress, the Egyptian scenes in flowing robes and lots of white. For many of the Roman scenes, there was also an excellent soprano on the balcony singing arias drawn from classical literature (not that I could make out the words: insert usual provisos re Globe acoustics here). It added a remote splendour to the sparse staging.
This was also the most comfortable I have ever been at a Globe production -- a seat at the end of the front row, boxed in on two-and-a-half sides by front of gallery / side of gallery / a pillar. I could *move*. Nobody kicked me. It was fab.
I studied Antony and Cleopatra for 'O' level, back when they had 'O' levels: I don't think I've ever seen a live performance, and this was a splendid one to start with. The contrast between Cleopatra's initial joie de vivre and the dignified misery of her end was very much in evidence. Eve Best was fantastic at portraying Cleopatra's infinite variety -- from flighty and jealous to queenly and political -- and Clive Wood made a very credible Antony, a bluff soldier who's found love, unlooked for, late in life. (He's not stupid: he knows how mercurial she is, though it can't be said he's wholly successful at dealing with her.) Phil Daniels as Enobarbus was suitably slithy, and Sirine Saba was a fabulous Charmian who added much of the 'between the lines' humour with her immaculate comic timing.
I liked the staging, too: the Roman scenes done in 16th-century Italian court dress, the Egyptian scenes in flowing robes and lots of white. For many of the Roman scenes, there was also an excellent soprano on the balcony singing arias drawn from classical literature (not that I could make out the words: insert usual provisos re Globe acoustics here). It added a remote splendour to the sparse staging.
This was also the most comfortable I have ever been at a Globe production -- a seat at the end of the front row, boxed in on two-and-a-half sides by front of gallery / side of gallery / a pillar. I could *move*. Nobody kicked me. It was fab.
