The draw of Ralph Fiennes was matched by the acting of Sophie Okonedo as Cleopatra in this pacy production of what must be a difficult play to stage. There are multiple changes of scene from Eqypt to Rome and back again. In addition, the play - for me - lacks the depths of Shakespeare's finest works. Essentially, we have Antony posted to Egypt where he has fallen for the charms of Cleopatra and is living a somewhat hedonistic ex pat lifestyle. Returning to Rome, he agrees to marry Caesar's sister, Octavia, as a way of sealing his loyalty. This relationship has nothing of the spice for Antony to compare with that with Cleopatra and he reestablishes himself in Egypt. Conflict with Rome ensues and Antony decides to engage with the Romans at sea. This proves disastrous and he accuses the Cleopatra's Egyptian navy of betrayal. She takes herself off to her burial monument. Thinking she is dead, Antony makes a bungled attempt at suicide. On learning that she is in fact alive, he goes to the monument and dies in her arms. She goes on to kill herself with the aid of an asp, in order to avoid being taken to Rome and humiliated by Caesar.
There is plenty to think about in all this and the plot kept me engaged. However, it is easy to lose track of the detail as the battles and changes of scene unfold. It would probably be very useful to see the production on a second visit. A few people left at the interval of what proved to be a quite long evening - around 3.5 hours.
