Rating: ★★★★
Venue: The Divine, London
Cast: William McGeough, Jonny Woo, Alexis Gregory and Jonathan Blake
Robert Chevara directs a dream like re-imagining of the great love story, Antony and Cleopatra using an all-male cast.
A site-specific performance in the basement club of The Divine. The explosive relationship between these lovers takes place in the confines of a nightclub where the passionate love tug-of-war plays out upon a backdrop of neon lights, pounding techno, karaoke musical breaks and psychedelic drugs. Dizzying and electrifying – always with Shakespeare’s unmatched poetic verse at its heart.
Antony and Cleopatra - A Dream of Passion is playing to 27th September at London's newest queer venue, The Divine, on Stoke Newington Road; the perfect venue for such an intimate show.
Conceived and directed by Robert Chevara, this is not a reworking but a refocus as we follow the love and passion between the two main characters. This short adaptation is set in a nightclub and suits the minimal stage, small venue and just four actors, instead of the larger cast we're used to with this production. It makes for a very close and personal performance with lighting used to change scenes and moods.
Jonny Woo shines as Cleopatra, he played her exactly as I expected her to be; manipulative, flirty, sexy and intelligent. Deeply in love with Antony but aware of her duty to Egypt and the conflict created by her alliance with Caesar. The various costume changes added to Jonny's slightly prima donna attitude. He was amply supported by William McGeough as Antony, all bravado and masculinity but besotted with Cleopatra.
Alexis Gregory, plays Charmian, Cleopatra's confidant, and Jonathan Blake, plays Dolabella, Caesar's envoy. Both play their characters well and add depth to this production.
I wasn't entirely convinced about the musical numbers as they seemed unnecessary, and didn't quite work with the audience as I feel it was intended, but admit to clapping along when encouraged.
This may not be everyone's idea of Shakespeare but I liked it. It extracted one part of a story and excluded the politics thus making it an easy to understand but exciting production.
You can book tickets to Antony and Cleopatra - A Dream of Passion, here.
Review by Ed
**photo credit: Jane Hobson**
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