Here’s a treat for you! This September, make sure you catch Antony and Cleopatra: A Dream of Passion, the queer reimagining of Shakespeare’s epic love story, at London’s fabulous The Divine performance space from 12-27th September.
Brought to you by visionary director and disruptor Robert Chevara, the play stars scene talents Jonny Woo as Cleopatra, William McGeough as Antony, Alexis Gregory as Charmian and Jonathan Blake as Dolabella.
The setting is a club, based on Berlin’s hedonistic techno temple Berghain, where the hours disappear and the lovers cling together, unable to part, fuelled by love, lust and drugs which no longer offer highs but leave them in a permanent state of deluded grandeur and paranoia. So exhausted that they cannot part but cleave to each other symbiotically…
Chevara’s radical, queer re-telling of the Shakespeare classic with a small, all-gay male cast, places in sharp relief the relationship of our two protagonists. It explores their ruined, alchemical relationship and delves into the psyche of two people whose narcissism and self-destructiveness make them both impossible and alluring.
The production, at a tight 70 minutes, is a rush as intense as the amyl nitrite the cast inhale at the start of their night. Karaoke moments break up the text as they flounce their ego and reveal their vulnerability through song. The styling represents contemporary queer club culture.
I caught up with Robert in the midst of the rehearsals for a chat about the play.
“I can’t wait to see your interpretation of Antony and Cleopatra. What inspired you to reinvent this particular Shakespearean play for a contemporary audience?“
“I have always loved the play, but thought it straight jacketed by the setting and wanted to explore what it would be freed of those constraints. So many of the feelings in the play, we all have. We have all had disastrous relationships. We have all had relationships which pushed us to the edge, hopefully not over into insanity! But have Informed our lives and the great passions which tear us up. Maybe we look to characters like Anthony and Cleopatra, or Heathcliff and Cathy, to take us where we dare not go. Or fear to go. So they can be played before our eyes before us. The play’s still so accurate and truthful about relationships in the 21st Century. I choose very carefully what I do and whether I have something to say with it, that’s relevant and truthful. I had also never seen a really good production of it. So there was a challenge!”
“Queer theatre, film-making and art seem to be riding high at the moment, with exciting, innovative quality content appearing across the world. Do you agree, and if so, what do you think the reasons are for this?”
“Yes, I do! Hallelujah! I’ve seen such great queer work in the last few years, and it seems to be getting better and better, stronger and stronger. I think we wait forever if we wait for a producer to hire us, or a company to want to produce your ideas. It’s like waiting for crumbs off the table and I am encouraged and inspired by people making their own work. Work which is risky and exciting, full of danger and bite. I think our show has all these elements. “
“I was in Rome for Pride this year, and I feel, from studying Ancient Rome, one of the original settings for Antony and Cleopatra, that humanity hasn’t really evolved that much since then. This makes your reworking of the play all the more relevant. What do you think?”
“The play is originally set in Rome and Egypt. One conventional, rigid, conservative and ordered. Where one does not date break the rules. Whereas Egypt is seen as sensual, anarchic, dreamlike, where it’s easy to lose yourself in passion and desire. I thought the contrast of a microcosm of the world happening inside a techno club in Berlin and the daytime world outside being totally alien and ‘other‘ suited the play brilliantly. There is still a killing morality about desire being lived to its fullest. A terror and contempt of it and our need to conform. Anything outside of conformity is seen as selfish, whether it be via drugs, partying, or playing your emotions out in public. Hedonism still obsesses, but terrifies people. This nebulous world seemed to me a great place to set the heightened emotions and how I’d conceived the play.”
“You’re known as one of the most innovative theatre and opera directors out there. What can audiences expect with the show?”
They can expect a great evening of theatre! Surprising and a thrilling ride. The cast are fantastic and play the poetry, drama and humour brilliantly. Will McGeough is Antony, Jonny Woo is Cleopatra, Alexis Gregory is Charmian and Jonathan Blake is Dolabella. All are brilliant and command the space. It’s a very physical show. 70 minutes of movement and magic. All great tragedies are woven through with comedy and Antony and Cleopatra has this, as well as the most ravishing poetry, plus feelings that are heigh to breaking point. All wrapped up in a dazzling mix of drugs, sex, techno, karaoke and dancing!
Sounds brilliant! Antony and Cleopatra: A Dream of Passion is on from 12-27th September at The Divine,
33 Stoke Newington Road, Dalston, London N16 8BJ.Tickets available here. https://www.outsavvy.com/event/21086/antony-and-cleopatra
Queerguru’s Contributing Editor Ris Fatah is a successful fashion/luxury business consultant (when he can be bothered) who divides and wastes his time between London and Ibiza. He is a lover of all things queer, feminist, and human rights in general. @ris.fatah
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