Antony, Octavius and Lepidus are the joint rulers of the Roman empire.
Antony becomes infatuated with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, and neglects his responsibilities
to spend time with her in Alexandria. Breaking away from Cleopatra, Antony returns
to Rome and cements his renewed alliance with Octavius by marrying Octavius' sister,
Octavia.
Cleopatra draws Antony back to Egypt, causing Octavius to declare war on them.
He defeats their forces at the battle of Actium, and Antony's men eventually desert him.
Cleopatra retreats to her monument and sends a false report to Antony that she is dead.
When he receives the message, Antony attempts suicide.
His body is brought to Cleopatra's
monument where he dies in her arms. Cleopatra then kills herself, and Octavius returns
victorious to Rome.
The locations of the play range over the whole of the Roman empire, but chief among them are
two hugely contrasting worlds - that of decadence, passion and luxury in Cleopatra's Egypt,
where Antony and Cleopatra play out their love affair,
and the cold, austere and efficient world of Octavius Caesar's Rome, where the future ruler
of the Roman empire plots his rise to power.
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The difference between these worlds was achieved in our production
through the use of colour in the
costumes: Egypt was a riot of colours - red, gold, turquoise and orange, with
feather fans and large cushions -
while Rome was confined to black, white and imperial purple, with military banners,
eagle insignia and black boots.
The set was very simple, and consisted of a series of cream-coloured screens with the tops
sloping away from the audience to create a greater feeling of depth. n the centre at the
back was a large, textured, metallic-looking disk which was lit in different colours to
suggest the different atmospheres and locations - gold for Egypt, and purple for Rome.
We cut the business of Antony's body being lifted up to Cleopatra for his death, so
there was no need of a balcony. Instead he was simply carried in and laid at her feet.
Because the
play consists of many, often very short, scenes, the action was kept moving quickly
with the minimum of props and furniture, and entrances and exits overlapping from
one scene to the next. The different locations were mostly suggested by banners, colour
and lighting. When it is necessary for the audience to know precisely where a scene is set,
Shakespeare always includes some reference to the location in the text.
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