A short, snappy, and entertaining version of a Shakespearean classic
This show is adapted from the original play by William Shakespeare, and you have to imagine that when writing it he ever envisaged it being performed by an all gay male cast in the basement of a gay club in East London. And yet, here we are. Antony and Cleopatra condensed down to 70 minutes, relocated to be taking place in a techno nightclub, with a smattering of karaoke songs thrown in for good measure. This show is produced by cabaret legend Jonny Woo who also stars as the titular Cleopatra. William McGeough plays Antony, and the show is directed by Robert Chevara.
Jonny Woo is very clearly the star of this show. I am now overly familiar with the original play, but in this production, the primary focus is on Cleopatra throughout. He is evidently a strong and comfortable performer and he displays acting and vocal talents in this show which keep you enthralled throughout. There are no bad performances, but ultimately all of the memorable moments from the night come courtesy of Jonny Woo.
The elephant in the room for this show is the 4 songs that are performed at different points. Individually they are great fun moments, incredibly entertaining, and good fun all round. However, as part of the show, they kill any momentum that has been built and ultimately add little. The one exception perhaps being William McGeough performing Lose Control by Teddy Swims, which fit the emotion and tone of that moment in the play. The rest of the songs, while being well performed, succeeded only in distracting from the narrative of the play.
It feels bizarre to describe this show as a bit tame, and yet that is how I felt after leaving. You are promised a raunchy drug fuelled scandal set in a Berlin nightclub where who knows what is going to happen. And yet, even with a man wearing just a thong straddling another man wearing a harness, and many depictions of drug taking, the show was missing some aspect of grit or debauchery to really help the setting come to life beyond just being an aesthetic. This is potentially due to the delivery of the Shakespearean text, which is done in a very classic fashion that would not have felt out of place at any more formal theatre. If this was an intentional juxtaposition, more work was needed to meld the two together and bring Shakespeare into this different alternative world.
In conclusion, this is a short, snappy, and entertaining version of a Shakespearean classic, which unfortunately left me wanting more. You will certainly have a good time watching this show, but I fear there is not much to grab onto that will stay with you after the short runtime has concluded.
Antony and Cleopatra: A Dream of Passion, is playing at The Divine until the 27th September.