2
Lines 1–83: Proculeius brings Caesar’s greetings to Cleopatra. Although she remembers that Antony told her to trust Proculeius, Cleopatra is suspicious and tells him that she asks for Egypt for her son. While Proculeius talks of Caesar’s grace and kindness, soldiers arrive and seize Cleopatra. He gives orders that she be guarded until Caesar comes and, when she draws a dagger, disarms her. He tells her to allow the world to see Caesar’s “nobleness well acted,” a metatheatrical reference that emphasizes the false nature of Caesar’s behavior. She declares that she would rather die in “a ditch in Egypt” than be shown to “the shouting varletry / Of censuring Rome.”
Lines 84–223: Cleopatra describes her visions of Antony to a sympathetic Dolabella. She convinces him to admit that Caesar will lead her in triumph through Rome. Caesar arrives and Cleopatra gives him a paper that she claims lists all of her wealth, but her treasurer, Seleucus, tells Caesar that she has lied. Cleopatra is furious at this betrayal, but Caesar assures her that he is not interested in her wealth, saying that he is “no merchant” and that he feels “care and pity” for her.
Lines 224–376: Once Caesar has left, Cleopatra sends Charmian to carry out some orders that she has previously given. Dolabella returns briefly and, showing honor and loyalty to Cleopatra, tells her that she and her children are to be sent to Rome. Cleopatra tells Iras what their lives in Rome will be like, as surrounded by “greasy,” “thick,” and “gross” Romans, they will be displayed and mocked. In a moment of metatheater, she imagines how she and Antony will be staged, and how she will be played by a “squeaking Cleopatra,” a “boy” actor “I’th’posture of a whore.” Determined against this, she prepares to die, once more staging herself in her “best attires” andher crown. A Guardsman enters with news that a peasant has brought Cleopatra a basket of figs. Played by the company Clown, he is shown in. The basket contains snakes and, after a deliberately incongruous bantering (and sexually suggestive) conversation with the Clown, Cleopatra prepares to die by their bite. As she kisses Iras and Charmian goodbye, Iras falls and dies, and, paralleling Antony’s reponse to Eros’s death, Cleopatra comments that she has been pre-empted by her follower. She applies an asp to her breast and another to her arm, and with her final thoughts of Antony, dies. The Guards rush in, but only in time to see Charmian die.
Lines 377–428: Caesar follows Dolabella into the monument where they discover the bodies. Caesar gives the orders for Antony and Cleopatra to be buried together.
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
IN PERFORMANCE:
THE RSC AND BEYOND
The best way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or ideally to participate in it. By examining a range of productions, we may gain a sense of the extraordinary variety of approaches and interpretations that are possible—a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made “our contemporary” four centuries after his death.
We begin with a brief overview of the play’s theatrical and cinematic life, offering historical perspectives on how it has been performed. We then analyze in more detail a series of productions staged over the last half-century by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The sense of dialogue between productions that can only occur when a company is dedicated to the revival and investigation of the Shakespeare canon over a long period, together with the uniquely comprehensive archival resource of promptbooks, program notes, reviews, and interviews held on behalf of the RSC at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, allows an “RSC stage history” to become a crucible in which the chemistry of the play can be explored.
Finally, we go to the horse’s mouth. Modern theater is dominated by the figure of the director, who must hold
Lines 1–83: Proculeius brings Caesar’s greetings to Cleopatra. Although she remembers that Antony told her to trust Proculeius, Cleopatra is suspicious and tells him that she asks for Egypt for her son. While Proculeius talks of Caesar’s grace and kindness, soldiers arrive and seize Cleopatra. He gives orders that she be guarded until Caesar comes and, when she draws a dagger, disarms her. He tells her to allow the world to see Caesar’s “nobleness well acted,” a metatheatrical reference that emphasizes the false nature of Caesar’s behavior. She declares that she would rather die in “a ditch in Egypt” than be shown to “the shouting varletry / Of censuring Rome.”
Lines 84–223: Cleopatra describes her visions of Antony to a sympathetic Dolabella. She convinces him to admit that Caesar will lead her in triumph through Rome. Caesar arrives and Cleopatra gives him a paper that she claims lists all of her wealth, but her treasurer, Seleucus, tells Caesar that she has lied. Cleopatra is furious at this betrayal, but Caesar assures her that he is not interested in her wealth, saying that he is “no merchant” and that he feels “care and pity” for her.
Lines 224–376: Once Caesar has left, Cleopatra sends Charmian to carry out some orders that she has previously given. Dolabella returns briefly and, showing honor and loyalty to Cleopatra, tells her that she and her children are to be sent to Rome. Cleopatra tells Iras what their lives in Rome will be like, as surrounded by “greasy,” “thick,” and “gross” Romans, they will be displayed and mocked. In a moment of metatheater, she imagines how she and Antony will be staged, and how she will be played by a “squeaking Cleopatra,” a “boy” actor “I’th’posture of a whore.” Determined against this, she prepares to die, once more staging herself in her “best attires” andher crown. A Guardsman enters with news that a peasant has brought Cleopatra a basket of figs. Played by the company Clown, he is shown in. The basket contains snakes and, after a deliberately incongruous bantering (and sexually suggestive) conversation with the Clown, Cleopatra prepares to die by their bite. As she kisses Iras and Charmian goodbye, Iras falls and dies, and, paralleling Antony’s reponse to Eros’s death, Cleopatra comments that she has been pre-empted by her follower. She applies an asp to her breast and another to her arm, and with her final thoughts of Antony, dies. The Guards rush in, but only in time to see Charmian die.
Lines 377–428: Caesar follows Dolabella into the monument where they discover the bodies. Caesar gives the orders for Antony and Cleopatra to be buried together.
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
IN PERFORMANCE:
THE RSC AND BEYOND
The best way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or ideally to participate in it. By examining a range of productions, we may gain a sense of the extraordinary variety of approaches and interpretations that are possible—a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made “our contemporary” four centuries after his death.
We begin with a brief overview of the play’s theatrical and cinematic life, offering historical perspectives on how it has been performed. We then analyze in more detail a series of productions staged over the last half-century by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The sense of dialogue between productions that can only occur when a company is dedicated to the revival and investigation of the Shakespeare canon over a long period, together with the uniquely comprehensive archival resource of promptbooks, program notes, reviews, and interviews held on behalf of the RSC at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, allows an “RSC stage history” to become a crucible in which the chemistry of the play can be explored.
Finally, we go to the horse’s mouth. Modern theater is dominated by the figure of the director, who must hold
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