Review: ANTONY & CLEOPATRA, Shakespeare's Globe

"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety." Aside from a couple of Horrible Histories songs, most people probably know Cleopatra for her unique manner of death - almost certainly an apocryphal story (it's far more likely that she simply poisoned herself), but that and her ill-fated relationship with Mark Antony clearly piqued William Shakespeare's interest.

Ten years after its last appearance, Antony & Cleopatra returns to the Globe in a new production by Blanche McIntyre. Starring John Hollingworth and Nadia Nadarajah in the title roles, it is a bilingual version that combines spoken English with BSL; not only is it a step forward in terms of inclusivity and accessibility (every performance is captioned), but it also finds a way of depicting the cultural and language barriers between the two worlds.

Unfortunately, the structural drawbacks of the theatre conspire to make this more of an endurance test than thrilling theatrical experience. Unless you fit in the Venn diagram of hearing person and BSL fluent, if you want to know what’s going on you need to spend at least half of the play reading big chunks of text - and the whole thing with Shakespeare is that it has a far greater effect on you if you get the words direct from the actor. This is why teachers bring students to the theatre, rather than just making them read the script.

Although there is plenty of comedy in this play, it is ultimately a tragedy - and it’s incredibly difficult to form emotional connections with the characters if you don’t really see the actors acting, for the most part. There also doesn’t seem to have been a great deal of thought about the sightlines, so a number of big moments are blocked by pillars. This really prevents you from immersing yourself in the story.

Aside from the amount of text on display, the captions have been well thought through (designed by Ben Glover and Sarah Readman); Roman and Egyptian characters have different fonts, which gives you an instant visual cue, and the creative captioning as first Antony and then Cleopatra take their dying breaths is beautifully done. There’s also the added bonus of the captions covering for those in the cast who aren’t as good at projecting - or in the event of noise pollution from the overhead flight paths.

The battle scenes are highly stylised and closely choreographed; this is an interesting idea, as it efficiently ensures that the audience knows that a fight has taken place, but as they’re quite brief, placed, and set to music, the overall impact is minimal.

Two scenes in particular stand out. One is the gathering of the Roman leaders on Pompey’s ship; Gabin Kongolo gives Pompey a cockiness as he greets the triumverate of Octavius, Lepidus and Antony with either a handshake or a fist bump, and the whole group are entertaining as they relax with a drink or three.

The second scene highlight is Cleopatra’s interrogation of the messenger who brings news of Antony’s new marriage. Nadarajah retains full control of the scene, despite no words being spoken, and the physical comedy from them all (and especially Nadeem Islam) is incredibly entertaining.

John Hollingworth and Nadia Nadarajah are truly excellent in their roles. Hollingworth manages to portray Antony as a man who has had great military success in the past (his confidence and a glint in his eye suggest he can relive those glory days), but also a shadow of his former self when luck doesn’t quite go his way. Nadarajah is a powerful presence as the Egyptian queen - it’s notable that a character only manages to gag Cleopatra once (by physically restraining her), but even then she has the strength to break free with her voice.

Other than in theatres where the captions can be more closely positioned to the actors, I believe this approach could potentially be more effective and widely engaging if done in film format. It does create an interesting dynamic for the story, and is of course a moment of progress for Shakespeare’s Globe - and UK theatre in general. An interesting, if slightly flawed, watch.

Antony & Cleopatra is at Shakespeare’s Globe until 15 September

Photo credit: Ellie Kurttz