Recently I had the chance to see the Houston Shakespeare Festival perform Shakespeare’s tragedy Antony and Cleopatra at the Miller Outdoor Theater. Having seen the HSF production of Hamlet last summer, I knew I was in for some good Shakespeare, and Antony and Cleopatra did not disappoint. The scale of the show was as epic as the tale it told and there was not a weak link amongst the remarkable cast who brought to life some truly fascinating characters.
Crystal Dickinson as Cleopatra and Seth Gilliam as Antony in the Houston Shakespeare Festival production of Antony and Cleopatra
Since our book club was reading Antony and Cleopatra, I knew something of what to expect from the show, but I had not come anywhere close to envisioning Queen Cleopatra as vibrantly as she was brought to life on stage by Crystal Dickinson. Ladies and gentlemen, the original drama queen: Cleopatra. Dickinson’s performance was brilliantly energetic and contained the “infinite variety” that never fails to be mentioned when referring to Shakespeare’s version of the ancient Egyptian queen. I almost thought the queen was mad (and maybe she was) as she would snap from a tricky temptress to a enraged woman to a noble empress of Egypt. Her performance could seem like a caricature were it not from some truly touching, grounded moments spread throughout the first three acts which built to a thrilling climax that had me at the edge of my seat. Cleopatra’s, “Ah, women, women! Look,/Our lamp is spent” is heart wrenching (Act IV, Scene 15).
Seth Gilliam as Antony, Rutherford Cravens as Lepidus, and Brandon Dirden as Caesar in the Houston Shakespeare Festival production of Antony and Cleopatra
A second surprise to me was the fascinating portrayal of Octavius Caesar by Brandon Dirden, who had magnificent stage presence. The Caesar I saw was deliciously manipulative and seething with power. While reading the play, The Bard’s Book Club did not identify a distinct “bad guy” within the story. Yet, while watching the HSF production, I got the sense that Caesar set Antony up for failure from the start in a foolproof trap. In Act II, Scene 2, when Antony and Caesar seem to be at irreconcilable odds, Caesar claims, “Yet if I knew/What hoop should hold us staunch, from edge to edge/O’ the world I would pursue it.” Caesar’s follower, Agrippa, then suggests Antony marry Caesar’s sister, Octavia, a union which is broken when Antony unsurprisingly returns to Cleopatra in Act III. In the HSF production, the line came off as a prompt to Agrippa, as if Caesar had planted Agrippa there for that purpose and told him what to suggest. The line sounded to me like, “Oh, gee, if only there were some way to fix … *cough cough*.” When Caesar comforts his abandoned sister in Act III, Scene 7, his pity seems insincere. I was fascinated by the idea that Caesar set Antony up, knowing all along that he would return to Cleopatra and again give Caesar an excuse to war with and overthrow the third pillar of the triumvirate. This sophisticated operation added another layer to the themes of power and manipulation explored in the play. Of course, the mistress of these is Queen Cleopatra.
So where does this leave Antony? Seth Gilliam took us through a truthful decline of the great Roman general. His unfailing Roman loyalty and strength was manipulated and broken by his queen, and with his foundation shattered, he crumbled. But for all I’ve heard of Antony and Cleopatra existing as one of Shakespeare’s great love stories, I saw far more lust than love in this interpretation. With the track record of all of the lovers in this play, I feel as though the play’s lustful direction is probably more accurate. The amount of control and manipulation makes it hard to solidify a foundation of true love. So many other objectives exist—political power, security, pride, wealth, land—that love seems a bit of a stretch. Can there be love when one party holds so much power over the other? I’m not so sure. But I’ll tell you what there is plenty of: drama!
Crystal Dickinson as Cleopatra and Seth Gilliam as Antony in the Houston Shakespeare Festival production of Antony and Cleopatra
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