Essay Comparing Munby's Production Of Antony And Cleopatra

Jonathan Munby's production of Antony and Cleopatra, performed at the Globe Theatre in august of 2014; proves that Shakespeare’s classic tragedy can still be reinterpreted, approximately 400 years after its first performance. The reinterpretation presented at the Globe Theatre focuses on the values of Rome and Egypt, but presents a modernized view of the cultures. Eve Best’s performance as Cleopatra is captivatingly active; but is unable to sufficiently captivate the tragedy of some scenes, such as in her outrageously comedic portrayal at the news of Antony’s marriage to Octavia. However her character is perfectly matched by Jolyon Coy’s Caesar, who is equally fierce as Cleopatra is active. The two empires of Egypt and Rome are the focus of the performance; which highlights the similarities of the worlds rather than focusing on the differences, as is commonly done.
Eve Best’s performance as Cleopatra is best described as misdirected. She is wonderfully active, and her joyous, emotive, exaggerated performance is a successfully stark comparison to Jolyon Coy’s portrayal of the bleak Octavius Caesar.

Although Eve Best’s rendition of Cleopatra can be seen as dichotic to Jolyon Coy’s Caesar at moments, some similarities can be found. The addition of certain actions for Cleopatra help highlight her dutiful nature, whereas some acting choices for Caesar help him relate to Cleopatra. Likewise, the Egyptian character Charmin can be seen acting more logical, similar to the Roman values; and the Roman slaves act unruly and pleasure-seeking, more akin to the typical Egyptian values. By creating this ambiguity of characters, Jonathan Munby highlights the similarities and overlap between the two cultures. The performance establishes that the values of the society are not inherently transferred to the citizen; and hence that the two cultures are not polar