Hartford Stage offers passionate, epic 'Antony and Cleopatra'

Tina Landau's new production of William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, turns out to be the perfect vehicle to showcase Hartford Stage's expanded capabilities following the first phase of its multi-million renovation project, which required the theatre to relocate its productions for five months this summer.

Landau makes use of the new fully-trapped stage space, the greatly expanded and modernized lighting and sound systems and a new seating configuration to simultaneously spotlight the sprawling scope of Shakespeare's late-career tragedy while drawing the audience into the intense, highly -fraught relationship between the once heroic Roman triumvar Marc Antony and Cleopatra, the politically-astute monarch of Egypt who was already well-known to the Roman populace for seducing the previous emperor, Julius Caesar, and bearing him a son.  And in Kate Mulgrew and John Douglas Thompson, she has found two powerful actors who are not only masters of Shakespearean verse but know how to command a stage.  As a result, the relationship between Antony and Cleopatra is just as epic as the production that surrounds it.

Both actors have earned accolades for their abilities to tackle difficult Shakespearean roles and play strong, determined leaders in classic and contemporary works.  Mulgrew has tackled several of the Bard's great female roles in Titus Andronicus and Measure for Measure, while playing such indomitable figures as Katharine Hepburn in Tea at Five for the theater and Captain Kathryn Janeway for television's Star Trek: Voyager.  Thompson has been building remarkable theatrical credentials as one of this country's foremost interpreters of Shakespeare through memorable performances in Othello last year off-Broadway and Richard III this summer at Shakespeare and Company, while proving a master of Eugene O'Neill in an astonishing The Emperor Jones at the Irish Repertory Theater.  Here they do not disappoint, especially in a thrilling second act confrontation whose emotion and depth rivals the sum total of the battles we've witnessed so far.

I suspect that as a play Antony and Cleopatra surprises many people unfamiliar with the history involved in its depiction of the couple as passionate, obsessed lovers facing the deterioration of middle age.  Mulgrew appears frequently unkempt, with her long, curly hair ragged and out of control and her gowns no longer placed to highlight her curvaceousness.  Thompson often appears bare chested and bellowing, trying to somewhat embarrassingly harken back to his heroic days in Rome, when his composure and stirring rhetoric was able to calm an angry mob.

While Cleopatra may no longer be the voluptuous seducer of kings and Antony long past his mesmerizing virility, Mulgrew and Thompson make clear not only their animal attraction to each other, but also the great respect and admiration they have for each other's political and military conquests.  If it isn't love, what they have created together is something far more dangerous and tempting.  At the same time, however, Mulgrew's Cleopatra remains always aware, sometimes quite literally, of which way the political winds may be blowing, while Thompson's Antony will painfully agonize over the damage this had done to his carefully-nurtured reputation.  Yet these two will be unable to resist the dynamic force that keeps pulling them together, as when Antony hastily abandons a politically motivated marriage to Octavius Caesar's sister, Octavia , in order to hurry back to the Egyptian capital, Alexandria.

The impact of the production goes to Landau's overall concept, which divides the stage space down the middle with a long blue stream of water reminiscent of the Nile, always reminding that Antony and Cleopatra come from two disparate worlds.  Lush, steamy Egypt is represented to the left of the water, with actors dressed (or partially dressed) in costume designer Anita Yavich's tropical garb, while the Romans occupy the right, dressed in armor and tunics frequently sitting on large white office chairs around a conference table.  Scenes involving deep, passionate emotions, whether in the sensual or political arenas, are deliberately played close to the central stream, as if the water is heightening the feelings expressed by the characters.

Blythe R.D. Quinlan's evocative set design is two-tiered, with an elevated platform towards the rear, backed by outlines of two large geometric shapes, first a circle connoting the hot Egyptian sun or the cool, sensuous moon, and second, a triangle, symbolic obviously of a pyramid.  A transparent wall extends across the entire back of the stage, giving the audience a look at activities occurring back in Egypt and Rome while the action unfurls on stage.  Two bunker like stairways descend from both partisan sides of the stage into Hartford Stage's new trap spaces, but they are only effectively used in the final scenes as Rome's representatives engage in ultimately insincere negotiations with the Egyptian queen who has secluded herself high up in one of her monuments.

Scott Zielinski's lighting plan is equally impressive, utilizing the full extent of the theater's improvements to employ configurations of all sizes of lights that can intensely blaze upon the actors and occasionally the audience or darken to accommodate the unbridled passion of the title duo.  The Egyptian scenes are generally bathed in brighter light, while the Roman scenes seem slightly dimmer, emphasizing the unraveling alliances and the surreptitious plotting among the three members of the triumvirate ruling Rome, Antony, Octavius and Lepidus, and the threatening usurper Pompey.

Landau makes full use of the entire Hartford Stage space, including frequent use of the stairways that go up through the audience.  One of the most effective occasions is right at the beginning of the play, as Antony and Cleopatra scamper down to the stage from the upper reaches of the theater, so consumed in their mutual attraction that they are completely unconcerned as to how foolish they may appear to the more military minded Romans. Mulgrew and Thompson's focus is so unabashedly and exclusively on each other that the full implications of their relationship is successfully conveyed with just a few seconds of stage activity.

Another enjoyable surprise is Landau's extensive use of dance and movement, co-choreographed with Broadway singer/dancer Tony Yazbek, a near-perfect Tulsa in the recent Patti Lupone revival of Gypsy. 
The dances are particularly effective in depicting the revels of the Egyptian scenes, furthering the supporting sensuous, carefree atmosphere of Cleopatra's court in contrast to the rigid movements and discipline of the Roman centurions.

Although Thompson and Mulgrew are at the center of the evening's action, there are some vital supporting performances that are key to the production's success.  Keith Randolph Smith is an welcome, accessible presence as Antony's loyal and dynamic right hand, Enobarbus, who serves as a de facto narrator for the play and helps the audience understand some of the political activity and implications depicted.  He keeps the action in perspective, often anticipating our unasked questions and curiosity. Kimberly Hebert Gregory is a forceful, delightful Charmian, Cleopatra's wise and supportive chief attendant, matched by Chivonne Michelle Floyd's other attendant, Iras.  Yazbeck is quite valuable as the queen's aide, Alexas, bounding in and out to fulfill her commands.

The Romans do not fare quite so well, with Scott Parkinson's Octavius a bit too petulant for the ruler who will ultimately be responsible for the cultural and military apex of the Roman Empire, although Christopher McHale creates a passive, emasculated Lepidus who will be easily deposed by the future emperor.  Alex Cendese is a tad too preppy as privileged Pompey out to revenge his deposed father's honor at the hands of Octavius' uncle.  LeRoy McClain, however, is note perfect as Menas, a disenchanted ally of Pompey who joins Caesar. 

Landau makes great use of Shakespeare's scenes involving Cleopatra's messenger who has the unenviable task of reporting Antony's marriage to Octavia.  Jake Green, with baseball cap, backpack and bicycle messenger garb, is a delightful foil to Mulgrew's growing anger, as he unsuccessfully tries to avoid the full measure of what he has observed back in Rome.  He is one of the few comic characters in the play, an audience favorite who Shakespeare wisely spares from the carnage at the end.

There are a few minor quibbles with the production, which in Act I seems to drag on too long, then quickly end in a speedy rush of on-stage and off-stage plot developments that turn the action on its head in order to set up the denouement.  As a result, some of the political maneuvering that has been painstakingly presented earlier in the play is suddenly dispatched in a few lines that leave the audience confused about who did what to whom.  That is more Shakespeare's fault than Landau's, but it detracts temporarily from our ability to follow the play smoothly.  Since so many scenes take place on ships and during skirmishes at sea, the staging seems unnecessarily land-bound, diminishing the impact of Cleopatra's fateful retreat at the height of a pivotal battle.

But is ultimately the memory of Mulgrew and Thompson that audiences will carry away with them from the current Hartford Stage production.  While in some ways we expect Mulgrew to be able to deliver such a strong performance based on her previous work, it is Thompson who ultimately astonishes for his remarkable ability to capture the many nuances of Antony's behavior.  We are accustomed to his kingly demeanor and his magnetic masculinity through his performances in Richard III, King Lear and The Emperor Jones, but also impressed by the vulnerability, self-doubt and single-minded devotion that ultimately contribute to his fall.  

Shakespeare has always been a welcome and well-staged playwright throughout Hartford Stage's 46-year history, with this being the 25th production of 18 Shakespeare plays and the second time the theater has performed Antony and Cleopatra (the last being early in previous Artistic Director Mark Lamos's tenure). There is an exhibition of veteran Hartford Stage photographer T. Charles Erickson's photos from past HSC Shakespeare productions in the upstairs lobby at the theater.  This is Shakespeare that is fitting for a contemporary audience, full of audience-rousing action, a few powerful, almost over the top performances, and the use of a variety of elements available to a director.  It's also a great way to introduce young people to Shakespeare.

Antony and Cleopatra runs at Hartford Stage through November 7th.  For tickets, contact the Box Office at 860.527.5151 or by visiting hartfordstage.org.  A limited number of $10 Ten Spot tickets are also available for all performances.  Discounts are available for groups of ten or more bycalling 860.520.7244.  "What a Rush" half-price tickets may be purchased, subject to availability, beginning two hours before each performance in person at the box office only. Patrons must request "What a Rush" tickets at the time of purchase.