AUDITION DATES

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Alistair Nunn

Performances in Trinity College Gardens,
July 2010

Friday 19 February 7.30pm
United Reformed Church Hall, Summertown (map)
The entrance to the hall is off the passageway to the right of the church.

Monday 22 February 7.30pm
Headington Community Centre, Gladstone Road, Headington, OX3 8LL (map)
Served by buses that run along the London Road to the Green Lanes (Hamburger) Roundabout. Street parking maybe restricted. Centre is between Trafford Road and New Cross Road.

Tuesday 23 February 7.30pm
Drama Studio, Rye St Antony School, Headington, OX3 0BY (map)
Served by buses that run along London Road and Headley Way. Limited parking on site. Easiest approach is back entrance which is off Franklin Road. Drama Studio can be found by walking from the double metal gates (automatic opening) directly ahead through the car park and then taking the first left between two school buildings. The door to the Studio is on the left hand side.

Friday 26 February – call-back auditions by invitation only. Venue and time will be given by the Director.

Cick here to find out more about the audition process.

Summary of the Play
Antony and Cleopatra is a story of two very different cultures colliding. The conservativeness of Rome coming up against the luxuriant unconventionality of Egypt.

After the death of Julius Caesar the known world is ruled by Rome. Rome itself is ruled by three men: Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar and Lepidus. However, Mark Antony has abandoned Rome and many of his responsibilities. He is captivated by Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, neglecting his duty to stay with her in Alexandria. He is only shaken from his life of luxury by news from Rome: his wife is dead, and the position of the triumvirate is under challenge from Pompey.

Antony returns to Rome, where Agrippa proposes the alliance between Antony and Octavius is cemented by the marriage of Antony to Octavius’ sister Octavia. This news sends Cleopatra into a jealous rage. Antony and Octavius’ new alliance is strong enough to force Pompey to make peace, despite the urgings of Pompey’s advisor Menas.

Antony later discovers that Octavius has broken the peace and imprisoned Lepidus. He sends Octavia to negotiate with her brother while he secretly returns to Alexandria.

News arrives in Rome that Antony and Cleopatra have crowned themselves king and queen. This gives Octavius the pretext to declare war on Antony. Cleopatra pushes Antony to fight at sea, but at the crucial moment of the battle her ships withdraw and Antony flees. Later battles on land are equally disastrous and Antony’s closest follower Enobarbus deserts him.

The Egyptian army surrenders and Antony accuses Cleopatra of betraying him. She flees and sends him a false report that she has died. Overcome with grief Antony attempts suicide and is brought to Cleopatra where he dies in her arms. Octavius offers Cleopatra to keep her place as a client Queen, but she suspects he plans to send her to Rome in chains. Cleopatra kills herself.

Octavius laments her death and Antony’s. However, in actuality, with Antony, Lepidus and Pompey now all dead he is the unchallenged sole ruler of Rome.

Key themes and treatment of the play
Alistair Nunn, Director

Antony and Cleopatra is a play about big themes. It is also a play that centres around one of the most famous love stories – and one of the most famous women – of all time. It is a challenging play but also an epic one, a drama that offers both the emotion of two lovers and the drama of two empires clashing. As such it offers a unique opportunity in Shakespeare to concentrate on both a personal romance and a major political drama.

My aim for this play is to make it clear to audiences just why the Romans found the Egyptians so alien and disconcerting. For me, productions of this play that are set “in period” fail to fully get this message across. Why is this? Because when we watch this play today, the Romans seem as exotic and hedonistic in their dress and manners as the Egyptians do. As such my aim is to make this contrast clear by making the Romans look as close to us today. As such, the Egyptians can suddenly be made to look very different indeed.

I also want to build up a historic contrast between how the Romans saw Egypt and how we might relate to certain parts of the world. For the Romans Egypt was to be the “jewel in their crown” – the richest, most productive and most highly prized colony of an Empire that would stretch across the world. For us then, the natural contrast is India, specifically India in the 1930s/1940s. In this scenario “we” are the Romans. The Roman dress will be British military and civilian of the period, their manners and stance formal and public school.

The Egyptians’ dress will be inspired far more by Indian and Middle East cultures, with loose flowing robes, comfortable cushioned surroundings and a manner far more laid back and, to the Romans, hedonistic. This immediately points up the sharp contrast between the two cultures through their manner of behaving and even the way they look.

As a director I favour a naturalistic approach to the dialogue, with my main aim being to tell the story rather than serve as a “slave” to Shakespeare’s dialogue. I want actors to deliver the emotion, feelings or reasons behind the dialogue rather than concentrating on poetry. Shakespeare is about drama. Audiences often find Shakespeare hard to follow. I have found that many may find the words hard to follow, but everyone can understand what people are feeling when they see the emotions acted.