Antony and Cleopatra
The most hopeless of tragic love stories
Who is not familiar with this legend? Plutarch wrote about it in his Parallel Lives, Shakespeare made a tragedy of it and Mankiewicz turned it into a masterful, insanely expensive Hollywood film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. How can you tell the story of Antony and Cleopatra afresh today when every detail of it is so well known?
The Portuguese writer and director Tiago Rodrigues does not opt for the monumentality of the legend but goes for a refined distillation. You will not find classical actors in his adaptation, but two exceptional dancers: Sofia Dias and Vítor Roriz. Their playful dance language is fascinatingly intertwined with his poetic reworking of this most hopeless of tragic love stories.
• Tiago Rodrigues is director of Lisbon’s Teatro Nacional and previously staged with Yesterday’s Men (2008) and By Heart (2016) at Kaaitheater. He also appeared in tg STAN’s 2013 piece Nora. In April 2017, he will once again be working with tg STAN.
text, direction Tiago Rodrigues | with Sofia Dias, Vítor Roriz | with quotes from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra | translation from Portuguese Joana Frazão | scenography Ângela Rocha | set construction Decor Galamba | light Nuno Meira | costume Ângela Rocha, Magda Bizarro | artistic collaboration Maria João Serrão, Thomas Walgrave, Magda Bizarro, Rita Mendes | production Teatro Nacional D. Maria II after an original creation by the company Mundo Perfeito | co-production Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon), Centro Cultural Vila Flôr (Guimarães), Temps d'images (Lisbon)
Nagesprek op 13/10/2016