By Joe Straw
Wanting too much is always the curse of political couples that
seize the processions of the ninety-nine per centers. Things have changed little since 30 B.C. when Antony
and Cleopatra’s lives played out like bad chess moves. Those moves that eventually bungled their
opportunities for world conquest.
Having read Stacy Schiff’s “Cleopatra: A Life” recently, this
was a grand opportunity to see Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra at A Noise
Within, one of the most elegant and respected theatres in Los Angeles. If you have not been to this theatre,
go. And while you are at it, make your
reservations, take along a number of friends, ride the rails, and see this dramatic
interpretation. Dress up in Egyptian or
Roman garb and make a day of it.
Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott co-direct Anthony
and Cleopatra at A Noise Within Theatre and this show is a spectacle as
promised. Of course, as a method of observation and trying to understanding the
craft, I provide notes one can use or discard at one’s discretion.
One can’t help but breath deeply when entering the theatre
and taking a look around at Tom Buderwitz’s marvelous Scenic Design. There are
ropes dangling from the rigging, from center stage to the four corners. On the stage are broken columns or partial
columns, depending on your perspective. Everything is slightly off, not quite
right. (Kind of like the streets in Los Angeles.) There are two or three levels on stage and those
stages are all are put to good use during the production.
“This is going to be interesting!” I said to myself. And as I said this, an attendant approaches
and cautions audience members that actors will be flying in from all
directions, be prepared.
Fair warning. House
rules. Be prepared.
Let’s take a moment and jump right in.
“Take a good note, and you shall see in him
The triple pillar of the world transform’d
Into a strumpet’s fool;” – Philo (Nathan Turner)
Things don’t look good for our star-crossed lovers circa 35 B.C.
who are the pre-supposed rulers of the known world. Mark Antony (Geoff Elliott) and Cleopatra
(Susan Angelo) are together surfeited in Egypt.
They live together as though married when in fact Antony is married to
Fulvia who lives in Rome.
Cleopatra is sure she knows what she wants but has to
consult her soothsayer for confirmation.
“You shall be more beloving than beloved.
You shall outlive the lady who you serve.
You have seen and proved a fairer former fortune.
Than that which is to approach.”
- Soothsayer
The Soothsayer (Nick Crandall) foreshadows things to come.
But in the frivolity of the times, Cleopatra does not take heed of these
warning. (Why is it no one but the
audience listens to the Soothsayer?)
Antony and Cleopatra continue to make merriment, not understanding the
tragedy that awaits them while they party.
The second messenger arrives from Rome being extremely
patient to get his message out to Antony who is verbally jousting with
Cleopatra.
“Fulvia thy wife is dead.” Second Messenger
Mark Antony only laughs at his fortunate turn of events and
tries to break the news to Cleopatra.
But Cleopatra is busy scheming to keep Antony with her. And try as he
might Antony has a hard time telling his love that Fulvia, his wife, is
dead. (To interrupt your love in
dialogue is a grand miscalculation.) So
by the time he gets it out, Antony must leave for Rome.
But death in the family is not all that awaits Antony in
Rome. Caesar has his sights on taking complete control of Antony and his
country.
“This is the news: he fishes,
drinks, and wastes
The lamps of night in revel; is not more manlike
Than Cleopatra; nor the queen of Ptolemy
More womanly than he;” - Caesar
Ouch and not kind. But Caesar is not prone to sit back and
let the world spin by itself. He is finding ways to rule and also wants more
power at his fingertips. He understands
he does not rule the seas and he would like an allegiance with Pompey
(Christian Rummel) and he can only do this with Antony’s help.
Back in Egypt Cleopatra luxated wants Antony to return as
quickly as possible.
And while all this fussing is going on, Pompey, Menecrates, and
Menas are finding ways to soften up Antony and Caesar so they can command a
bigger portion of the world pie. (These characters are slightly different than
A Noise Within’s version of Antony and Cleopatra.)
Later, in the House of Lepidus (William Dennis Hunt), as
Caesar and Antony have words about the state of Rome, Agrippa (Gregory North)
suggests that Antony marry Octavia, Caesars’ sister.
“To hold you in perpetual amity,
To make you brothers, and to knit your hearts” – Agrippa
Antony thinks this is a good idea as a means to secure his
power. He marries Octavia (Angela
Gulner) and, in the dead of night, asks the Soothayer if it was a good idea.
“Say to me,
Whose fortunes shall rise higher, Caesar’s or mine?” – Antony
“Caesar’s” – Soothsayer.
Not a good sign.
Meanwhile back in Egypt, a messenger has brought news to
Cleopatra that Antony has married Octavia.
Cleopatra nearly kills the messenger.
Near Misenum, Caesar uses Antony to negotiate with Pompey
and his men to form another alliance.
But back at the Castle, in Egypt, Cleopatra asks about the
fairness of Octavia. To which the
messager replies, and I paraphrase, she is not that good looking.
“She creeps:
Her motion and her station are as one;
She shows a body rather than a life,
A statue than a breather.” - Messenger
Caesar, not satisfied with his limited power, has Pompey
murdered and then goes after Antony.
Octavia asks Caesar to pardon Antony but Caesar will not hear of
it. He tells her that her husband, Antony,
is in the arms of Cleopatra.
“No, my most wronged sister; Cleopatra
Hath nodded him to her. He hath
given his empire
Up to a whore;” - Caesar
The rest is Shakespeare’s version of history.
Geoff Elliott as
Mark Antony does a fine job as the misguided warrior. A man who would rather
have it all rather than all of some. He wants to control Egypt as well as Rome
but does not take the steps to necessitate that action. He is a misguided
“party animal” who does not take care of business first and then make love to
Cleopatra second. Elliott is fantastic in the role but one would have liked to see
him break boundaries at the flip of a switch. I know why but I want to see the why. Also, having secured Octavia as his wife, one
would have imagined a more powerful Antony; instead we see a beaten man as he approaches
the Soothsayer. It’s a moment one would
have liked to seen both ways, to choose the better moment.
Susan Angelo as
Cleopatra plays her as “one whacky chick” in this Shakespeare’s version. Gone
are the strong queen-like character traits, the treachery inherent in her
living breathing sole, and villainy associated with her character that made her
famous around the known world. Angelo’s
portrayal seemed like a petulant housewife that always wants her way but
doesn’t get it. Still, Angelo made a
strong choice, and one cannot fault an actor for making a strong choice. In the
end, and in hindsight, her portrayal made a lot of sense, and her vision grew
as the night went on. Still, one can’t
help but want to see this role in the magnificent glory it was thought to be,
or not to be.
Max Rosenak as
Octavius Caesar had some nice moments on stage, but one would like to see this
character more developed. As history has it, he was a puny man, kind of sickly,
and worried about a lot of things. But he must have been an educated man,
listened to the right people, and negotiated his way around the Republic to
create the Roman Empire. There are more
levels to this character and one believes Rosenak will find them as the show
progresses in its run.
William Dennis Hunt
as Lepidus and Rustic provides a fantastic look as both these two
characters. As Lepidus, he is wise and
thoughtful and as Rustic, in what appeared to be green face, he provides the
means to an end for our heroine in a most glorious way. Hunt is an actor who
gives his all.
Christian Rummel
does a fine job as Pompey, master of the seas. He too must weigh his options in
whether it is best to make allegiance with Octavius or Antony. Pompey stands on
his ship weighing those options in clothing that looks “early pirate”.
Nevertheless, this was a very fine performance for this role and Scarus as
well.
Ken Merckx plays
Demetrius and Dercetus, friends and wise counsel to Antony.
Gregory North plays
Agrippa, who has high hopes for Antony and his relationship to Caesar. His allegiance is to Caesar and ultimately to
destroy Antony. There are more ways to
shows this and something can be added to the character.
Robertson Dean
plays a devious Enobarbus who knows well enough to stand on the winning side,
or to jump ship when Antony’s ships are stalled dead in the sea. Although
outspoken, he is clever enough to see the finality of Mark Antony and guilty
enough to know in his heart that he has betrayed a good friend. Dean was marvelous!
Raphael Goldstein
played Eros and Nathan Turner
portrays Philo and Schoolmaster.
Nick Crandall was
mesmerizing as the Soothsayer. And as
all soothsayers do, he masks the truth to our heroes or maybe they just don’t
hear him correctly, or maybe he is just too vague for them to understand that he
is giving away the end of the story. The
audience members are witness to the outcome of his verbal visions and see the
truth in his wisdom. Why do the characters wave him off? Have they accepted their fate? He also played
Thidius.
Angela Gulner was
fine as Octavia but needs much more to plead for the life of her husband,
Antony. Was it a marriage of convenience
or was it love? As I artist, I would
always chose love.
Philip Rodriguez
plays Taurus/Varrius and Steve
Weingartner always does a nice job at ANW playing both Menas and Dolabella.
The supporting cast were made up of Thaddeus Shafer as Proculeius, Jill
Hill as Charmian, Diana
Gonzeales-Morett as Iras, Christopher
Karbo as Diomedes, Dane Biren as Abused Mess and Seleucus, Kristina Teves as one Attendant and Sara Cebellos as another Attendant.
Amin El Gamal as
Mardian, the eunuch, has a wonderful off color semi-flat, semi-sharp tone to
his singing voice. And as eunuchs are prone to pratfalls, he should be careful
of the draperies on the floor. Gamal was wonderful as Mardian.
Nick Broderick
and Kabin Thomas were the Roman
Messengers and both did outstanding jobs on this particular night. These were wonderful performances.
Geoff Elliott and
Julia Elliott-Rodriguez did a
marvelous job directing. There are
enough visual images to delight one for some time. The hoisting of Antony onto
Cleopatra’s balcony is marvelous. The battle
scenes were masterfully done.
Still, one would like to get a better sense of the place as
the characters move in and out of Octavius’ home, Cleopatra’s’ castle, Pompeys’
house, etc., out to sea, on the plains, it seemed a bit confusing at times.
Some characters need more structure and depth with a solid objective to get
them from one place to the next. The
armies need to march in a way that would frighten the hardiest of
onlookers. These are small things but
one believes important things.
The production staff gets a round of applause as well. The
Costume Design is by Angela Balogh Calin.
The Lighting Desing by Ken Booth.
The Composer is Laura Karpman.
The Prop Master is Renee Thompson Cash.
The wonderful Fight Choreography is by Ken Merckx. The Wig, Hair and Makeup Design is by Monica
Lisa Sabedra and lended itself to a wonderful authenticity in its simplicity.
Stunning photography by Craig Schwartz!
All in all Antony and Cleopatra is a marvelous show. Wow! Run!
Take a friend with the last name of Martin and show them how
badly misbehaved the Romans conducted themselves at that time.
This show runs in repertory through May 13, 2012. Please check the link below for showtimes.
This show runs in repertory through May 13, 2012. Please check the link below for showtimes.
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