antony // cleopatra
Directed by Alice Stewart and Niamh HassettPart of the Melbourne Fringe Festival
at Second Story Studios
enter via Sackville Street—-
Focusing on the nature of celebrity and the role of gender in modern politics ‘antony//cleopatra’ is a pop art queer theory mashup, acting as both tribute and interrogation of Shakespeare’s version of history and femininity. This production seeks to extrapolate the icon of female beauty as created through Shakespeare’s male gaze, and by disrupting assumptions surrounding Cleopatra’s role within the action of the play, will offer answers to the question – “what agency, if any, did the Queen of Egypt have?”

Shakespeare’s classic, ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ takes on new dimensions in light of the modern contexts of gender equality movements and post-third-wave feminism. In this adaptation, the text becomes a vehicle for better understanding the ongoing journey towards modern feminism. The fictionalisation of a real historical figure and her life story has become part of the mythos of white male superiority as created by the western canon.

Fear, rage, lust, love, and power. The end of patterns and the dawning of ages, ‘antony//cleopatra’ is a feminist commentary on the role and power of women in a world where the word matriarch has become synonymous with tragedy.

Warning: Contains some nudity, moderate coarse language, adult themes (self-harm or suicide, staged violence)
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Get your tickets now via
melbournefringe.com.au/event/antony-cleopatra
or call (03) 9660 9666