Antony & Cleopatra

For a change, Shri Nathji and HH Priya Nath watch “Antony and Cleopatra” on television during this ensuing pandemonium of troubles that have followed the World Prayer Day of 1984

Even as HH Priya Nath explains the story to Shri Nathji, he shows great interest in it, and at the same time expresses his dismay at the cruelties inherent in human nature.

Shri Nathji had often spoken of the manner in which Julius Caesar had been betrayed and killed by the very men whom he trusted most. He had also spoken of the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot one of his trusted disciples.

However he had also said:

“But no devotee of Lord Rama betrayed him!”

Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony from the time of the Parthian War to Cleopatra's suicide during the Final War of the Roman Republic. The major antagonist is Octavius Caesar, one of Antony's fellow triumviri and the future first emperor of Rome. The tragedy is a Roman play characterised by swift, panoramic shifts in geographical locations and in registers, alternating between sensual, imaginative Alexandria and the more pragmatic, austere Rome.

Many consider the role of Cleopatra in this play one of the most complex female roles in Shakespeare's work. She is frequently vain and histrionic, provoking an audience almost to scorn; at the same time, Shakespeare's efforts invest both her and Antony with tragic grandeur. These contradictory features have led to famously divided critical responses.

This famous play has been produced for television on three occasions -

1. Antony & Cleopatra, 1974, a television production of Trevor Nunn's stage version performed by London's Royal Shakespeare Company. This version was shown in the United States to great acclaim in 1975. It stars Janet Suzman (Cleopatra), Richard Johnson (Antony), and Patrick Stewart (Enobarbus).

2.  Antony & Cleopatra, 1981, a TV production made as part of the BBC Television Shakespeare series. It stars Colin Blakely (Antony), Jane Lapotaire (Cleopatra), and Ian Charleson (Octavius).

3. Antony and Cleopatra, a 1983 TV movie. It stars Timothy Dalton (Antony) and Lynn Redgrave (Cleopatra).

We cannot be sure, which of the three TV productions of the play was watched by Shri Nathji and HH Priya Nathji. But it would most likely be the most latest of that time. The one released in 1983, which was viewed by them in 1984. That TV Production was directed by Lawrence Carra. It stars Timothy Dalton (Antony) and Lynn Redgrave (Cleopatra). Other stars in the movie were  James Avery, Sharon Barr and Michael Billington. It was a 179 minute movie. The photo of the original poster of that production is given here. Also a photo of the DVD of that 1983 TV movie is there which is now available.