Attn: This play lasts 3 HOURS! Try to watch it in 2 or 3 pieces.
The acclaimed, sold-out production directed by Simon Godwin, with Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo as the fated lovers.
Streaming from 7pm UK time on Thursday 7 May until 14 May.
As you learned from the last Shakespeare production you watched, the poetic language of Shakespeare can feel overwhelming at the beginning. It would be helpful to know the plot/story a little beforehand. Usually while watching a production, after an adjustment period, the language + visual starts to make some sense.
Consider the following in your review:
• The form and style of the production • The artistic choices which have been made, including sound, lighting, set and costume design choices • Your own critical appreciation of design elements and performance skills • What you think the creative and production team’s intentions were in staging the production • Significant moments in the production where you notice a specific performance skill being used or think a particular directorial decision has been made • Your own response to the overall effectiveness of the piece as an audience member • You could draw a sketch of the set and/or some costumes from the production as you watch
You may also want to watch this 3-minute video about how the costumes were made:
National Theatre Antony and Cleopatra
The stage is set in a large room with a large audience. The stage includes a rotating stage exactly like Frankenstein. The play was placed in a modern way with costumes like suits and military clothes instead of old timey clothes. The clothes are very detailed from the medals on the military clothes to the intricate details on Cleopatra’s clothes. Lighting was used a lot in this play to illustrate night, day, the end of a scene, the oceans reflection, fire, and gives spot light to specific people. The lighting was used to create a realistic touch to the play and this helps the audience submerge into the story even more. Sound was also used such as music , the sound of birds, the ocean, waves, and grasshoppers. the sounds create a more realistic and more in depth illustration of the surroundings. I was very impressed by the proposed like the boat, the buildings, and a pool full of water. I believe that the best performer s were the people that played the part of Antony and Cleopatra. Their expressions and their presence on stage are amazing. I am very impressed about how they can memorized these lines that are very hard to understand. I loved how between certain scenes that are long they incorporate comedic lines that make the audience laugh. I am also astonished at how well they were able to create a modern stage with the storyline that was created long ago about an event that took place before christ. I think they organized the stage with a modern touch to make it a little more realistic to the audience in this modern age. When Ceasar, Antony, and one of Caesar’s men were going to meet the infamous Pompey the actor who played Anthony gestured a handshake in a very unexpected way that made everyone laugh or when one of the messengers that was sent to tell Cleopatra that Antony got married was dunked into the water and Cleopatra kept going back and forth with herself and the messenger and trying to kill him. The play in the beginning was a little hard to understand but after getting into it i started to understand the language and the plot a little better. As an audience member i feel like the play was well organized and thought out. My eyes and ears were met with both amazing visuals and surprising sounds. The best set piece in my opinion was the boat. It looked like metal and had a door leading onto the other side where the party was situated . The room was filled with chairs, people, tables, bottle of wine and beer, as well as tables, and lighting. My favorite costumes were the once Cleopatra wore especially the one where the inside of the cap was filled with gold like designed and created from a white fabric that reflected the light. She looked so elegant in all the dresses and i was surprised at how many different costumes she had. Another memorable moment in the play was when Caesar’s man got drunk and Antony started describing a crocodile to him and i thought that was very funny. Caesars man kept asking questions and Anthony kept replying with vague answers. All in all the play was well put together and very interactive.
Sound : gunshots, and murmuring noises in radio, radio interference, plane noises, and bombs
To explain the story of the play, Caesar is a person who travels abroad, builds achievements and builds a foundation for power. His death came at the apex of power. So it felt more tragic to me. As the conflict between the Senate and the military power breaks the balance between the two forces, the Senate removes Caesar in a primitive way, which I think is a historic example of the nature of the power struggle. When Cleopatra gave birth to Caesar’s son, the audience can naturally felt that she was trying to change the relationship between Egypt and Rome to that of a hat, not a subordinate. Meanwhile, I realized that it was almost impossible for a person at the peak of power to judge the rise and fall on his own. Caesar did, Antonius was the shabbyest, and Cleopatra decided to die. Personally, Cleopatra seemed overly obsessed with blood ties. As his son focuses on designing Egypt’s future, the foundation is weak. I felt very sorry for this point. I wondered what it would have been like if she had read and followed the larger and wider trend of the times. But the queen’s end was majestic. There were many interesting elements in the story of this play, and there were also many parts that were lacking. Now, let me explain the play settings.The stage was set up to spin 360 degrees so that many things could be produced. If we look at the costume, the details were made up of detailed suits and military attire, and I thought it would come out as an old classic like the clothes of Egypt-spee, but it was unexpected. Personally, I liked Cleopatra’s clothes the most. The stage lighting showed the change in time. Day or night. The lights also showed the sea and fire. The sound made a lot of natural sounds such as the sound of waves, birds, and insects, which really helped me immerse myself as if I were there. I thought this play would be boring because it was 3 hours long, but I enjoyed it more than I thought. (Thanks to the comedies in the middle of the play and good storylines.) It made more fun by mixing classical and modern properly, as well as clothes and content, it helped the audience to more focused. My last line review is, this wasn’t an easy-to-understand play, and I felt sorry for some parts, but I think it was a fun play and good for a people to who can’t go out from the house like us. (Miss, if this review doesn’t exceed more 16 points, please don’t put in on pronote…)
Small summary of the history of this play: Cesar travels a lot abroad, he builds lots of things. in the history of this play. The Senate eliminates Caesar while there is conflict between the Senate and the military power. This shows that people are ready to do anything to have power. His death was something tragic.
Cleopatra gives birth to the son of Caesar which shows that the two countries could ally themselves and therefore change the relationship between Rome and Egypt. I think Cleopatra seemed too obsessed with blood ties, but at the same time it was normal at the time. And when Cleopatra died, I found it very sad.
The decor of this room was very interesting, it resembled that of Frankenstein. What I also liked is that the room had modern disguises and not from the time of Cesar and Cleopatra. I really liked the decorations, the changes or the rotation of the decorations. This gives a whole different aspect to the play.
To conclude, I loved this play, I also really like the actrice of Cleopatra !!!!
The room has a large audience and the stage includes a rotating stage that strongly looks like the Frankenstein play stage. The story is organized in a modern way with very nice costumes including suits and military clothes with medals on them. Cleopatra’s costume is my favorite, the details are very nice. The costumes are way more “worked on” than i thought, i thought they were going to be more plain. The lighting changes a lot between day and night, and is used to have a more realistic effect in the play, and this helps the audience by making them more intrigued and captivated by the story. The sound-effects are also very good, the sounds used are the sound of birds, waves, grasshoppers… The actors’ stage presence is amazing. I was very impressed with how they can memorize these long lines that are pretty hard to understand. At the beginning of the play, it was a little hard for me to understand but after continuing to watch, i started to understand the way they talked and the plot a little better. The play is well put together and is very well thought out. To summarize the play, Caesar travels a lot abroad, he likes to build and make things. The Senate takes down and eliminates Caesar while there is tension between the Senate and the military power. Overall, the ‘moral’ is that the only thing people want is power and that they are ready to do anything to own it and keep it. His death is something horrible and tragic. Caesar and Cleopatra have a child which shows that the two countries could get along better and change the tense relationship between Rome and Egypt, that is Cleopatra’s goal. At the time, blood ties were very important for people and Cleopatra also gave it much importance and it seemed like she was nearly obsessed. The decorations and the set is very nice, they really give life to the play. I thought this play was going to be very long to watch but it didn’t seem that long after all and i liked it more than i thought.