The first of August, and time for a new play.
It’s time for…
Antony and Cleopatra!
I’ve never read the play. I heard the whole Enobarbus “The barge she sat in like a burnished throne” speech. I knew about the asp.
I’ve seen it only once, last year at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
And I’m looking forward to these next three months!
Fun Fact: We are starting this play on an appropriate day. On August 1, 30BCE, Marc Antony died. After the defection of his army to Octavian a year earlier at the Battle of Actium, and Octavian’s invasion of Egypt, fearing that Cleopatra had already committed suicide, he stabbed himself. It was a mortal wound, and when he learned that Cleopatra still lived, according to legend, he had his followers take him to her, where he died in her arms.
Has “Anthony and Cleopatra” ever been produced in any style but variations of “swords and sandles?” I have not found any.
I think it would be well received in “Cinema Noir”. All the elements are there, the original femme fatale, a not particularly bright enforcer, and a cold, calculating boss in a winner take all turf battle. The asp would be a challenge.
I loved your “Macbeth” tournament, good luck with “A & C.”
William,
Thanks for this comment and question… I LOVE Film Noir, and totally see how this fits!.
Thanks. If “Henry V” can be placed in World War I, why not?
I have to give credit for the inspiration. I live in Michigan and we get Canadian television and in the Black & White Era the Canadian Comedy duo of Wayne and Schuster did a sketch called “The Murder of Big Julie” based on the assassination of Julius Caesar, inspired by Shakespeare’s play. And it was tongue in cheek Cinema Noir.