Antony and Cleopatra

                                                    Antony and Cleopatra Review

William Shakespeare’s play Antony and Cleopatra is a very unique yet tragic one. The story is based on a relationship between Cleopatra the pharaoh of ancient Egypt and Mark Antony the Roman politician and general. The story plays out with an alliance formed between Mark Antony and Octavius Caesar the emperor of Rome. Mark Antony had basically gone AWOL and ignored all of his duties that he was responsible for back in Rome because he was blinded by love. Everything pretty much went downhill after the death of third wife Fulvia. When observing the play it is difficult to tell whether or not Mark Antony showed any signs of grievance or mourning. In the letter that the messenger gave Antony about the death of Fulvia was also an order from Caesar to Antony telling him to return back to Rome. Caesar was about to go to war against Pompey and he needed Antony to lead his army with all his knowledge and experience. At this time Cleopatra is mad that he is leaving her and she begs him not to go but he eventually had fled.

 Mark Antony and Caesar weren’t automatically companions just because of their family history. In Frostburg State University reenactment of the play Mark Antony was an opportunist. He married Caesars younger sister Octavia to gain trust and friendship from Caesar. FSU’s production depicted Cleopatra as manipulative and arrogant, while Mark Antony as naïve but not one to under estimate. There was excellent improvising in this production with great choreography and the figurative idea of hair scarves as swords. Who would ever thought a fighting scene with the popping and whipping of scarves would be so entertaining. They also had good props on stage, for example the boxes that they used for seats was also used for hieroglyphic artifacts from ancient Egypt. Thank the professors of FSU for bringing the play to the campus because it was quite a treat.