A To Z Blogging Challenge 2022: Shakespeare- A Is For Antony And Cleopatra

 

Banquet of Cleopatra by Tiepolo. Fair Use. 

Welcome to my 2022 A to Z! The theme this year is the works of Shakespeare.I hope you all enjoy. 

A is for Antony And Cleopatra, one of Shakespeare’s later plays. It was first performed in 1607, so in the Jacobean era. 

The painting above, by Tiepolo, is right here in Melbourne, in the National Gallery of Victoria. It is connected with a story in which the lovers challenge each other to do the most expensive banquet. Cleopatra won the bet when she dissolved a very valuable pearl in vinegar and drank it. Cheeky! 

Even if you have never seen or read it, you probably know some bits from it. Have you ever heard someone older speak of their “salad days”? It’s right here in this play. You may or may not have heard the speech that begins with “The barge she sat in like a burnished throne burned on the water”, but I bet you have heard “Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety”. I will talk more of this speech in my E entry on Enobarbus. 

It’s about the relationship between Roman General Mark Antony and Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. Well, mostly. A lot of it is also Roman politics. Antony is lounging around in Egypt with his lover. His wife Fulvia dies offstage early in the play, so not a spoiler. 

He makes some stupid decisions and loses his friends and his final battle and dies. Cleopatra also dies, deliberately letting an asp bite her. Again, not really a spoiler as we have all seen films and read stories about this. It’s just a really great play for speeches, and worth checking out adaptations. 

I’ve seen a few versions. Back in 1972, Charlton Heston directed and starred in a film of it. He wasn’t very good, alas, but he did choose a good supporting cast. There are names like Eric Porter and Julian Glover. The role of Cleopatra was played by Hildegarde Neil, who has done quite a lot over her acting career, and is married to Brian Blessed. I believe some of the sea battle footage was taken from Ben-Hur. Still, not very good.

I saw it on stage many years ago, done in Melbourne by the Bell Shakespeare Company. More of that later in “E is for Enobarbus”. 

Currently I’m viewing the National Theatre production, on the National Theatre At Home app. It’s in modern dress, which is fine. The role of Antony is played by Ralph Fiennes(well known for many roles, including Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films) and Cleopatra is Sophie Okenedo, whom I last saw in the Hollow Crown series as the elderly Queen Margaret in Richard III, with Benedict Cumberbatch. Interesting to see her go from old hag to glamorous Queen of Egypt! 

There are some other names of interest. Have you seen Good Omens? (If not, why not? Get Amazon Prime’s free week and binge) Gloria Obianyo, playing Cleopatra’s maid Charmian here, was in Good Omens as a truly dreadful angel, Uriel.  (Though all the angels were awful except Aziraphale and all the demons except his friend Crowley)

Unlike other Shakespeare productions I’ve seen, this one is the whole play, well over three hours, so if anything is missing, it’s probably just as well. 

Anyway, well worth a watch or a read. The 1974 Royal Shakespeare Company production is up on YouTube for free. I haven’t seen it yet, but I believe Patrick Stewart plays Enobarbus.