Search - Antony and Cleopatra on DVD

To Cool a Gypsy's Lust ...

M. Fetler | Sacramento, CA | 05/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Directors of "Antony and Cleopatra" must decide what story to tell. Should it be the geopolitical conflict between East and West, the refined culture, hedonism and mysticism of Egypt versus the stern militarism and morality of Rome (and its Judeo-Christian legacy)? Or, should it be a tragi-comic near-melodramatic story of great lovers torn apart by war and their human frailty, but finally united in death? Or, should it be a chilling power struggle, stuffed with machiavellian deceit, betrayal and murder? Trevor Nunn's Royal Shakespeare Company production succeeds in telling all three stories, remains faithful to Shakespeare, and provides entertainment that is easy for contemporary audiences to enjoy. Given Nunn's success with this play and others, why are so few RSC productions of Shakespeare available in the United States?

Nunn elegantly portrays the difference between Rome and Alexandria. Rome is presented as if in a bare, large, air-conditioned, brightly lit room. The background is pure white. Caesar and the Romans look clear eyed and freshly showered, shaved, with hair cut short and neatly combed, wearing pure white robes, so unwrinkled they might have been starched. Everything is simple and transparent, there is right and wrong, good and evil, truth and falsehood, and one's duty is to do right. That is, one's duty is to faithfully serve Octavius Caesar.

In Egypt nothing is pure or simple. The air feels thick and objects appear hazy, as if seen through a fine gauze. Intimate rooms glow warmly with gold, silken-satin colored fabrics, richly embroidered tapestries, and immense luxuriously upholstered cushions. Ancient flutes and harps provide music, the moody food of love. The shimmering heat of the desert is a palpable reminder of strong emotions, and Cleopatra's palace is a mirage.

Janet Suzman is a sensual alluring Cleopatra, a woman who used her sexuality to manipulate Julius Caesar, then Pompey the Great, and now Mark Antony. Little wonder that the Romans mistrust her, the serpent of old Nile. Her constantly and violently shifting moods keep Antony off-balance and intrigued. Her sighs and tears are like forces of nature, great winds and rains, and as loyal Enobarbus assures Antony, she is a great piece of work, not to be missed if you happen to be in Egypt. And yet, Antony makes a marriage of political convenience with Octavia, a holy, cold and chaste Roman matron, very much the opposite of Cleopatra, not a good match for a man who has cultivated the pleasures of the East. Eventually, Octavia, who was to have bound Antony and Octavius in peace, provides the pretext for open warfare when she returns to Rome and Antony is drawn back to his Egyptian lover. The ill-starred marriage is the critical point at which Antony's fate finally tips toward his tragic, inevitable defeat.

Richard Johnson, a lusty masculine Antony, is the one-time valorous soldier, now lost in the pleasures of his relationship with Cleopatra and hard-partying with the Egyptians. Antony, although a Roman, wears a beautiful multi-colored robe with gold chains and jewelry. Once a war-hardened soldier, he is now ensnared by the hedonism of the East, shown by his rich, flowing speech, slightly unkempt beard and longish hair, and habitual feasting and drunkeness. Relaxing with drink in what appears to be a plush seraglio, with his trusty second in command Enobarbus, Antony reluctantly persuades himself to return to Rome. He is no longer the hero who revenged the assassination of Julius Caesar and bargained with Octavius to rule the world.

Corin Redgrave is Octavius, the clear-sighted, goal-driven Roman who prevails through superior organization, discipline, deceit and treachery. Young, efficient, and ruthless, Octavius would be at home today as a brilliant hedge-fund manager with an MBA from Harvard, reshaping the world by taking over old corporate empires and destroying them to build anew. His clean aryan appearance and fascist ethos provide a chilling subtext for the war against Cleopatra and Egypt. Antony may be a dissipated worn-out warrior, but he is honorable. Octavius is soulless power-broker who lets nothing get in his way, admired and feared but never trusted or loved.

The ambiguous atmosphere of Egypt conforms with ever changing views of reality - metamorphoses - counterpoint to the Roman illusion of certainty. Antony says, "let Rome in Tiber melt." Cleopatra on hearing of Antony's marriage to Octavia threatens to melt gold and pour it down a messenger's throat, and let "Egypt melt into NIle." Having lost a key battle Antony feels "authority melt from me," and he compares his life to the shifting clouds in the sky that first appear one way, and then another. When Antony dies, Cleopatra grieves that "the crown o' the earth doth melt." Octavius wins, but Antony and Cleopatra elude him in a suicide pact. Even in defeat, as the final curtain comes down on the stage, the East, one feels, will go its own way. There are no simple answers in this play and Trevor Nunn, graciously, does not try to provide them."