Word: cleopatras
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THAILAND "Great leaders are very good at sex: Cleopatra, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Mao Zedong. Clinton is also a capable leader, so it is normal for him to be very good at sex." --A government spokesman...
Superficiality aside, though, Cleopatra is the play's central character. While other characters and especially Antony himself seem to speak in a vacuum, characters react to her words and bend themselves to her minutest whims. Only Caesar seems to know that flattery is the sole path to Cleopatra's mind and motivations...
...other characters seem mute and unable to connect with each other; Antony has to filter his decisions through Cleopatra's ultimate judgment and there are moments when no one listens at all when he speaks. Even Antony's friend Eros, to avoid a verbal disagreement with Antony when he orders her to kill him, kills herself instead. Feinstein's Antony is memorable and portrayed excellently, but the helplessness of his character makes one view his emotional tirades like those of a child. Everyone, save Cleopatra and Caesar, seems to float alone through the story, which is why the Victorian setting...
Antony and Cleopatra is accompanied almost constantly by foreboding, drum-heavy music. Several scenes in which the music is played over long stretches of dialog have a cinematic feel. The best of these occurs at the end of the first half, when a paternal Caesar is seen comforting Octavia after Antony has left her for Cleopatra. This touching scene is juxtaposed to Antony and Cleopatra's silent, silhouetted reunion in Egypt on the upper stage and is accompanied by heart-wrenchingly gorgeous plano music. This scene projects the play's unity and enunciates this cast's unswerving dedication...
...this well-directed and well-acted production achieves the best of all three scholarly visions of the play. It exudes historical significance, thoroughly explores Antony and Cleopatra's relationship, but succeeds best in conveying tragedy--not only Antony's, but everyone...