Caesar And Cleopatra:-
Here is a fresh look at Cleopatra as the young girl she must have been, compared to the much older Caesar - and while it is delightful in seeing a petulant young pretty girl getting her education rather expensively, through life and war, it is also a scathing commentary on various issues around war and morality and dealing with enemy, with Caesar above his fellow men - and women - providing them insight about why it was wrong what they did wrong.
Most delightful remains the prologue, a monologue by the Egyptian god Ra, addressing the audience disdainfully.
A sample - "O you compulsorily educated people!"
Monday, September 22, 2008.
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
Antony and Cleopatra:-
Famous play by Shakespeare that was about an adult Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, formidable and famous in her own right, apart from various men that were attracted to her or involved with her. The mystic aura about her has never diminished, and one can hardly think of Egypt or Julius Caesar or Mark Antony without a wisp of thought of Cleopatra.
This play was performed back to back by Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier as a grand theater program, with Shaw in the morning when Cleopatra is a young girl and Shakespeare in the evening with the mystique of the young adult woman she grew into, commanding men and armies and more. This ambitious program by the couple performing the two plays together every day back to back is the reason for this unusual coupling of the two.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014.
...........................................................................
...........................................................................
