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April 26 - July 6, 2008
Antony and Cleopatra
Reviewed
May 7 by
Brad Hathaway |
Running time 3:00 - one intermission
t
A
Potomac Stages Pick for more storytelling in the
grand tradition |
Click here to buy the script
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Fourteen years after the assassination of Julius Caesar which was so
effectively staged in the first of the two plays being presented as the
"Roman Repertory" in the Sidney Harman Hall, Mark Antony and Cleopatra meet
their deaths. Instead of power and politics, now the deadly element is love
and romance. Not the kind of smitten young love of, say Romeo and Juliet.
This is a mature passion that doesn't so much blind the couple to pitfalls
as it makes them care less about consequences so they pursue their affair at
any cost. See the first play first, for it sets up much that comes later,
making the pair a pleasure. Two directors tackle the two plays but manage to
make them seem the pair that they are. Both are staged with the same
marvelous cast, with the same actors playing the same characters -- only
separated by a decade and a half. With the same design approach, the visual
aspect of both productions create the same world. Each stands alone as a
fine production, but together they create something more. |
Storyline: The triumvirate of Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar and Lepidus
ostensibly rule Rome. When Antony's wife dies, he takes Octavius' sister,
Octavia, to wed in an effort to patch up the partnership, but can't quite
shake his passion for Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. Rivalry reemerges as Octavius' fleet sails against Antony. Augmenting his own forces with ships
from Cleopatra's navy, Antony faces Octavius' flotilla but is defeated. He
flees only to stand again in a land battle which he wins. Eventually, defeat
comes when the Egyptian forces surrender. Hearing wrongly that Cleopatra has
died, Antony kills himself. When the very much alive Cleopatra learns of his
death and that she is to be taken to Rome as Octavius' prisoner, she too
chooses death.
In his
notes in the theater's magazine, Professor Paul A. Cantor of the University
of Virginia poses the question "Is Antony and Cleopatra a sequel to
Julius
Caesar?" After all, the later was written some eight years after the former
and it carries the historical narrative of the end of the Roman Republic and
the beginning of the Roman Empire forward with many of the same historical
characters. Who knows what growth the real Mark Antony underwent over that
time, but given the chance now to witness both plays back to back, it is
clear what growth Shakespeare had as a playwright. At least, it it clear
what changes marked his work between the time he wrote Julius Caesar
at about age thirty five and when he returned to the topic of Rome in his
early forties. His later work is much less plot driven, much more character
introspective, and, surprisingly, a bit less theatrical. While so much of
what Julius Caesar is about takes place right on stage in front of
your eyes, much of the "action" of Antony and Cleopatra - at least up
until the climactic suicides - takes place off stage and then is discussed.
The
titular couple here are Andrew Long and Suzanne Bertish. Long's Antony
carries over from the earlier play and the intervening years are visible in
the grey of his hair, the lines on his face and the hint of a paunch under
his toga. No matinee idol posturing as Antony, Long's portrayal is flesh and
blood, craftiness and foolishness, passion and desire. Bertish as Cleopatra
is regal and proud, vital and energetic, captivating and demanding, a very
human woman in a push up bra. While each is a strong personality alone,
together they make quite a pair. There is a chemistry between them in their
joint scenes that makes the bond of their affair feel very real.
As
expected after the pleasures of the prior play, Aubrey K. Deeker is a cool
character as Octavius. His way with verse dialogue is marvelous. Dan Kremer,
who played Caesar in the first play is now free to portray Antony's
compatriot Enobarbus. While his Caesar was more an icon than a person, his
Enobarbus is carefully calculated to reveal the pain behind his decision to
abandon his friend. Ted van Griethuysen lets us see the lack of strength of
character in his Lepidus and Craig Wallace comes into his own as rebel
general Pompey after having done some nice work in two small parts in
Julius Caesar. His persona is so strong that it is a bit distracting to
have him reappear, this time in a role that wasn't in the earlier play. But
that is the nature of repertory presentations and it would be a shame to
miss either his suicide in Julius Caesar or his rampaging Pompey in
this play. Even smaller parts carry over. Kryztov Lindquist, whose visage
opened Julius Caesar so dramatically, is still the soothsayer now
seemingly all but burnt out, perhaps from the weight of having been the one
to warn Caesar of the Ides of March.
Written
by William Shakespeare. Directed by Michael Kahn. Music composed by Martin
Desjardins. Fight direction by Rick Sordelet. Design: James Noone (set)
Jennifer Moeller (costumes) Mark McCullough (lights) Daniel Baker (sound)
Carol Pratt (photography) M. William Shiner (stage manager). Cast: Suzanne
Bertish, Ethan T.
Bowen, Aubrey K. Deeker, Blake DeLong, Adriano Gatto,
Kenric Green, Tom Hammond, Tyrone Mitchell Henderson,
Robert Jason Jackson, Jair Kamperveen, Craig Klein, Jan
Knightley, Dan Kremer, Kryztov Lindquist, Andrew Long, Kaitlin Manning, John-Michael Marrs, Kim Martin-Cotten, Kaytie Morris,
Dean Nolen, Glen Pannell, Scott Parkinson, Kevin Pierson, Kurt Rhodes, Nancy Rodriguez, Armand Sindoni,
Peter Stray, Ted van Griethuysen, Matt Volner, Craig Wallace. |
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April 27 - July 6, 2008
Julius Caesar
Reviewed
May 7 by
Brad Hathaway |
Running time 2:50 - one intermission
t
A
Potomac Stages Pick for storytelling in the
grand tradition |
Click here to buy the script
 |
There are scenes to treasure in David Muse' story-driven staging of one of
Shakespeare's most single-mindedly plot telling plays. Few subplots or side
stories distract from the events at the center of the story, and so, the
success of the evening rides on the clarity of story telling in the way the
director moves the considerable forces (a cast of forty) around the huge stage of the Harman Hall. While
Muse keeps the plot boiling, he focuses the eye at precisely the right spot
time and again to make sure you catch an important event or a revealing
reaction amidst the swirl of people and the rapid race of events. The fast
pace of the piece never seems rushed, however. He allows you to linger over
a particularly impressive moment or touch just long enough before moving
right along in the story. The production features an iconic performance by
Dan Kremer in the title role, a deepening one by Tom Hammond as Brutus, a
cleverly conniving Cassius in the person of Scott Parkinson, and a
many-faceted turn by Andrew Long who gets all of Mark Antony's great lines
("Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war," "Friends, Romans, countrymen,
lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him").
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Storyline: On the Ides of March, Marcus Brutus leads a band of assassins
to rid Rome of the prospect of Julius Caesar's power and popularity turning
the republic into an empire. Caesar's friend and colleague, Mark Antony
shrewdly manipulates the people and the new powers-that-be to undermine
Brutus' movement and assure the transfer of leadership to Caesar's heir,
Octavius. Brutus and his principal partner in the conspiracy, the
manipulative Caius Cassius, end their lives on their own swords rather than
be taken by Antony's forces.
The play, though titled Julius Caesar, doesn't really
give a lot to do to the actor playing the victim of the assassins' knives.
Kremer strides through the evening as a presence rather than a person, which
is enough given what Shakespeare calls for here. It is in Brutus and Antony
that the drama resides, and here we have two performances of note. Hammond
takes a while to get into the rhythm of the speech pattern in Shakespeare's
verse, but settles nicely. His speech opening the second half delivered over
the dead body of Caesar ("Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved
Rome more") is marvelously persuasive but is, of course, only to be topped
by Long when, as Antony, he damns with faint praise that "honorable man" who
dispatched their leader. As good as Long is in that speech, and he is quite
wonderful, with humor and drama in fine balance, his greatest moment of the
evening comes right after. As the scene shifts, he's seen briefly leaning
against the wall of the stadium where he has just triumphed. His posture
says more in that fleeting moment than practically any other actor on the
stage says with all their speeches all night long.
It will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with
the Shakespeare Theatre Company that the supporting roles are delivered with
style. Ted van Griethuysen's first-scene moment as a cobbler ("a mender of
bad soles" who meddles with no tradesman's matters, nor women's matters, but
with awl") is pure delight. Craig Wallace' suicide by sword is a shocker.
Young J. Garrett Brennan's quiet moment strumming a harp-like instrument and
singing a soft lullaby is charming and Aubrey K. Deeker's short time on
stage as Octavius has a stylish heft to it. Muse adds to the collection of
moment with effective stage pictures in the battle scenes. The smooth,
nearly seamless progression of storytelling is marred, however, by the
repeated use of an effect calling for the dimming of the lights over much of
the stage while highlighting a speaker for a brief moment for an aside. It
draws too much attention to the fact that the play is taking place on a
stage.
Once again, Harman Hall is being put to superb use in
a production that blends the architectural feel of the hall itself with the
physical design of the set, creating an all enveloping environment that
shuts the doors on the world outside and constructs an internal world where
the play is the thing. The huge stage, with musicians along the back wall to
provide martial music for the spectacle of parades and pounding percussion
to heighten the chaos of the battle sequences, has two large staircases that
retract to create even more floor space for battle or crowd scenes,
projecting balconies for speeches and the height to accommodate giant
banners of Caesar's countenance. Acoustically, the company continues to fine
tune the hall for clarity and dynamic range with this production being a
touch better than
Edward II, which itself, was an improvement on
Tamburlaine
which, as the inaugural production in the hall, was already impressive.
Written by William Shakespeare. Directed by David
Muse. Music composed by Martin Desjardins. Fight direction by Rick Sordelet.
Design: James Noone (set) Jennifer Moeller (costumes) Mark McCullough
(lights) Daniel Baker (sound) Carol Pratt (photography) Benjamin Royer
(stage manager). Cast: Ethan T. Bowen, J. Garrett Brennan, John Brennan,
Brian Clarke, Aubrey K. Deeker, Blake DeLong, Katherine Frels, Adriano Gatto,
Kenric Green, Tom Hammond, Tyrone Mitchell Henderson,
Richard Huffman, Robert Jason Jackson, Jair Kamperveen, Craig Klein, Jan
Knightley, Dan Kremer, Kryztov Lindquist, Andrew Long, Steve Lotterman,
Kaitlin Manning, John-Michael Marrs, Kim Martin-Cotten, Kaytie Morris, Steve
Nixon, Dean Nolen, Glen Pannell, Scott Parkinson, Kevin Pierson, Cameron Pippitt, Kurt Rhodes, Nancy Rodriguez, Michael Sharon, Armand Sindoni,
Peter Stray, James Svatko, Ted van Griethuysen, Matt Volner, Craig Wallace, S. Matthew
Wilburn. |
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May 22 - June 1, 2008
Hamlet
This year's Free For All at Carter Barron Amphitheatre will be a restaging
of the production of Hamlet that Michael Kahn directed at the end of the
2006-07 season at the Lansburgh. Star Jeffrey Carlson returns in the title
role. Alexander Burns will direct the restaging and other returning cast
members will include Michelle Beck as Ophelia and Janet Zarish as Gertrude.
Dakin Matthews takes on the roles of the Ghost of Hamlet’s father, First
Player and Gravedigger.
Click here to read our review of the production in its
initial run.
June 10 - August 3, 2008
The Imaginary Invalid
Keith Baxter will direct Moliére’s final comedy, a critique of the
pretensions of medical quacks in Paris in the 17th century. René Auberjonois
debuts as the famous invalid.
September 9 - October 12, 2008
Romeo and Juliet
David Muse directs Shakespeare's tale of star crossed lovers in the Sidney
Harman Hall.
September 30 - November 16, 2008
The Way of the World
Michael Kahn tackles William Congreve's restoration-era comedy of manners
with a cast including Veanne Cox, Floyd King, Andrew Long and Nancy
Robinette in the Lansburgh.
December 2, 2008 - January 4,
2009
Twelfth Night
Rebecca Bayla Taichman returns after her production of The Taming of the
Shrew to direct Veanne Cox, Floyd King and Nancy Robinette in Shakespeare's
comedy of twins washed ashore in an exotic land. Performances will be
in the Sidney Harman Hall.
February 10 - March 29, 2009
The Dog in the Manger
David Johnson's new translation/adaptation of Spain's Golden Age master
playwright, Lope de Vega's rarely performed exploration of class and gender
distinctions gets its East Coast premiere in a production directed by
Jonathan Munby, who is known for his work at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Performances will be in the Lansburgh.
March 10 - April 12, 2009
Ion
Ethan McSweeney directs another Greek tragedy following his work on The
Persians in 2006 with the American premiere of a translation of a less well
known play by Euripides. Performances will be in the Sidney Harman Hall.
May 12 - June 28, 2009
Design for Living
Michael Kahn will direct Noël Coward's 1933 comedy of a ménage á trois.
Performances will be in the Lansburgh.
June 16 - July 19, 2009
King Lear
Stacy Keach stars as the aging king who tests his three daughter's devotion.
Robert Falls remounts his production which premiered at Chicago's Goodman
Theatre.
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