Tonight, Antony & Cleopatra performance #5. We had an exhilarating first weekend, and I am excited to see what happens as we dive in for week two.
After Sunday night’s show, we had three days of blissful rest, which looked like this:
Enobarbus’ cabin in the woods: a game of In the Manner of the Word. (photo by Aryeh Lappin)
And this:
White Horse on Reach Road
And this:
Go Deep or Go Home…
…Melody and Stephanie put the lobsters in the bag at the Stonington Lobster Co-Op.
And this:
Bates & Weeks: Lobster Feast
Apple pie + 2 peaches = glamour.
…If this is what it’s like in Alexandria, I’ll take it. How about a few more pictures of Cleo, while we get ready for tonight’s journey?
Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra
She’s the go-to, right? Gorgeous Elizabeth Taylor, dripping with gold, giving everything old Hollywood had to give.
Tina Turner as Cleopatra
Icon + Icon. Show me a great woman who isn’t easily put into one box or another, and I bet she’s felt some affinity with Cleopatra in her life.
Theda Bara as Cleopatra
The incredible Theda Bara in a still photo from the 1917 film Cleopatra, of which no known print exists. It was one of her biggest successes, but all that remains is a handful of studio shots of her in costume.
Theda/ Cleo pouts. The music isn’t enough…the fanning isn’t enough…the glamour isn’t enough…the empire isn’t enough…Where’s Antony?
Marilyn Monroe as Theda Bara in Cleopatra, photographed by Richard Avedon
Oh, Marilyn.
Marilyn Monroe as Theda Bara in Cleopatra, photo by Richard Avedon
One time Richard Avedon took my picture. A month before he died, when I was working with the satirical protest group Billionaires for Bush. He shot us in his studio on the Upper East Side, and it was an extraordinary experience. I wonder, I wonder…was I in the same corner of his studio where he shot Marilyn?
Billionaires For Bush, photographed by Richard Avedon.
Who’s next? How about some more painters, picking up where we left off in Pictures of Cleo I?
Cleopatra by John William Waterhouse, 1888
Cleopatra’s allure continues to captivate painters. Moving into the 20th century, she was a muse for a number of Art Deco artists:
Cleopatra by Joseph Christian Leyendecker, 1920’s
At last, a blonde Cleopatra! By Rolf Armstrong, 1939
Next time, I’ll work with leopards too.
Yes, there is a leopard in that last painting. I know, you might have been focusing on something else. Look again.
Cleopatra by Henry Clive, 1946
And a couple of painters working today, too:
Morte di Cleopatra by Bruno Laudato, 2008
Cleopatra Modern by Mark Webster, 2011
All these men painting Cleopatra, photographing actresses as Cleopatra…I wonder if the icon changes when she is represented by and for women? Let me take that question with me into the play tonight. Not to dismiss the men: just, let us say, to share.
To round out this gallery, here are images of some of the great actresses who have played Cleopatra:
Lily Langtry as Cleopatra, 1891. My nightly vocal warm-up includes the tongue-twister, “Lily Langtry lay on the lawn and languidly, lasciviously laughed.” Thanks to Kristin Linklater, who taught it to me.
Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra, 1934
Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra, 1945. So gorgeous
Monica Bellucci as Cleopatre in Asterix & Obelix Meet Cleoptra, 2002
Thandie Newton as Cleopatra, 2010
And then there’s me, casting heiroglyphic shadows on the pressed tin walls of the Burnt Cove Church in our nightly ritual Antony & Cleopatra:
Cleopatra Heiroglyphic
Infinite variety, indeed.
Now, though, it’s time to wash my hair.
Show me, my women, like a queen: go fetch
My best attires. I am again for Cydnys
To meet Mark Antony.
–Cleopatra, Act V, Scene 2
Melody & Cleopatra 