The Globe Theatre
In the Globe’s new bi-lingual production of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, the Egyptians speak in British Sign Language, while the Romans speak in English. Surtitles are provided for both languages. A couple of reviews labelled it a success, but many of the critics, while praising the actors, had doubts about whether the mix of languages worked, and some decided it definitely didn’t.
[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]
The Stage‘s Dave Fargnoli (4★) praised the production, ‘Director Blanche McIntyre and associate director Charlotte Arrowsmith – who, like a significant portion of the cast, is deaf – make the transitions between signed and spoken segments almost seamless.’ He liked the leads: ‘As Antony, John Hollingworth makes clear the general’s inner struggle between duty and desire. He is vapid and changeable, yet there is no doubting the intensity of his fascination with Cleopatra. Deaf actor Nadia Nadarajah ably ties together the Egyptian queen’s many contradictions. Sometimes regal, sometimes outrageously extra, she is never less than a commanding presence.’
Lucinda Everett for WhatsOnStage (4★) was positive about the use of BSL: ‘the cast’s signing powerfully brings to life Shakespeare’s imagery.’ ‘The way the languages and captions are used,’ she explained, ‘mixed, withheld, chosen above one another – becomes symbolic of many things…diplomacy…pain…death…love.’ She was concerned that ‘John Hollingworth’s Antony seems a touch too level-headed. Although his commanding physicality and charisma still make him a compelling watch.’ However, ‘Nadarajah’s Cleopatra meanwhile is a pint-sized powerhouse. Mercurial and witty, as all good Cleopatras are, but also charming, fierce, and at times delightfully petulant.’
Kate Wyver reported for The Guardian (3★) ‘Nadia Nadarajah is a regal Cleopatra. Obsessive and quick to temper, she is rash and romantic’, and referring to the surtitles, ‘Far from being distracting, they offer a strong case for such visual aids becoming a permanent fixture in the theatre.’
Other critics had more reservations and some were downright hostile.
The Standard‘s Nick Curtis (3★) was both impressed: ‘To have brought something so bold and complex to the stage at all is a technical triumph for director Blanche McIntyre. And disappointed: ‘Her production captures granular relationships but misses the big picture.’ ‘The whole thing,’ he declared, ‘is a mishmash of the thrillingly radical and the ridiculous.’
Julia Rank for LondonTheatre (3★ ) noted, ‘the production is most effective in building the relationship between Cleopatra and her ladies-in-waiting’. Despite acknowledging that the use of BSL sent out a ‘powerful contemporary message’, she said she found it ‘something of an endurance test’.
Sarah Hemming of the Financial Times (3★) pointed out, ‘This is a knotty, wordy play, brimming with great poetry. That makes for a great deal of intricate text, quite long to sign, and some passages, such as the countryman’s gag-riddled speech near the end, fell flat. Unless you know the play by heart, you find yourself reading the surtitles a lot, at the expense of experiencing the performances fully.’
Time Out‘s Andrjez Lukowski (3★) found it ‘fun’ and thought ‘Nadarajah is excellent: she plays Cleopatra with her whole body, and her heady physicality and total sense of living in the moment sets the whole stage alight.’ However he summed up, ‘It’s a spirited and breezy take on Shakespeare’s oft-dense tragedy that I’d say doesn’t quite work.’ He explained, ‘the production’s switching between languages has a tendency to disorientingly change the energy of the show’.
Debbie Gilpin for BroadwayWorld (3★) also didn’t think the mixing of two languages worked and she too found it an ‘endurance test’: ‘Unless you fit in the Venn diagram of hearing person and BSL fluent, if you want to know what’s going on you need to spend at least half of the play reading big chunks of text – and the whole thing with Shakespeare is that it has a far greater effect on you if you get the words direct from the actor. This is why teachers bring students to the theatre, rather than just making them read the script.’
The Telegraph‘s Claire Allfree (3★) agreed somewhat: ‘Blanche McIntyre’s admirably well intentioned production struggles to achieve lift off. Surtitles are a necessary irritant in theatre, regardless of what language is being translated; here, they end up badly marginalising individual performances.’ She blamed its failure primarily on ‘a production that, simply put, lacks ideas.’
Fiona Mountford at i-news (2★) was more blunt, ‘Unfortunately, the finished product is dismal, nigh-on incomprehensible and with almost no depth of characterisation.’ Referring to the surtitles, she observed, ‘Essentially, the evening entails a speed-read of this towering tragedy and that is a tough ask even of those intimately familiar with its shifting allegiances. Shakespeare without the aid of spoken tone and inflection is a considerable challenge.’
Clive Davis in The Times (1★) was even less impressed by what he called ‘Blanche McIntyre’s woefully unfocused bilingual production’. ‘Much of the time…the drama is played out like a clumsy, leering sitcom,’ he said. ‘Nor is there any sense of electricity between Nadia Nadarajah’s Cleopatra and John Hollingworth’s Mark Antony.’
Critics’ Average Rating 2.9★
Antony and Cleopatra can be seen at the Globe Theatre until 15 September 2024. Click here to buy tickets direct from the theatre
If you’ve seen Antony and Cleopatra at the Globe Theatre, please add your review and rating below