Antony and Cleopatra

Charlene V. Smith Director	Zane Alcorn Asst. Stage Manager	German Cardenas Alaminos Set Designer	Jen Fok Lighting Designer
Hailey Glick Asst. Stage Manager	Ingrid Pierson Stage Manager	Elizabeth Rocha Costume Designer	Lorriane Slone Fight, Intimacy, Movement Director

Paige Stone Props Master

Rew Tippin Sound Designer

Cast

Erin Amlicke Agrippa, Soothsayer	A.J. Baldwin Charmian	Trezure Coles Cleopatra	Joey Dolan Proculeius
Rebecca Ho Eros	Michael Liebhauser Antony	Amber McNew Enobarbus	Caitlin Ort Pompey, Octavia
Roberto Perez Thidias, Clown	Jamie Saunders Ventidius, Menas	Tennah Sillah Iras	Ray K. Soeun Octavius, Alexas

Michael Dix Thomas Lepidus, Scarus

From the Director

TAM’s 53rd Season is titled “It’s Greek (and Roman) to me!” It’s a clear way of linking the plays this season, but with Antony and Cleopatra, it’s a bit of a misnomer. We often categorize Antony and Cleopatra as a Roman play, but it is located not just in Italy, but throughout the Mediterranean. The play takes place as much in Alexandria as in Rome, but I’ve never heard anyone call it an Egyptian play.

By calling Antony and Cleopatra a Roman play, we are priming ourselves to interpret the play through the eyes of the victors—this play end with Octavius conquering Egypt and thus establishing the Roman empire. During their military expansion, the Roman characters engage in racism that stereotypes the East as wasteful and indecent. Throughout the play, Egypt is conflated with its ruler, Cleopatra, and the two are similarly side-lined. Despite Cleopatra occupying one-half of the title, the play itself others her through the attitudes of its Roman characters; stereotyping her as exotic and a temptress.

How would our perceptions change if we looked at this play through an Egyptian lens, rather than a Roman lens? Rather than judging Egypt through Rome’s eyes, we might see it as a site of joy and of community, qualities that should be celebrated rather than shamed. Rather than believing Roman accusations about Cleopatra’s lasciviousness, we might instead note that she is monogamous and sexually faithful to Antony. Rather than seeing her as Antony’s downfall, we might see the tragedy of these two equally powerful and passionate lovers being torn apart by world politics. I invite you to see this play anew, with Cleopatra as its center and Egypt as its setting.