MARIA DUARTE is swept along by the cocky self-belief of a ping-pong hustler in a surprisingly violent drama
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Infinite variety embellishes spellbinding Cleopatra from Sophie Okonedo
STEVE ANDREW recommends a lively and often moving guide to once vibrant spaces that have been abandoned or swept away
GEOFF BOTTOMS appreciates the local touch brought to a production of Dickens’s perennial classic
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production whose design and cartoonish acting overwhelms the close scrutiny of characters
SUSAN DARLINGTON enjoys the raucous familiarity of a traditional topsy-turvy pantomime
RON JACOBS introduces the latest novel by the best writer of US working-class fiction writing today
Antony and Cleopatra
National Theatre, London
ANY assessment of this absorbing production must begin and end with the breathtaking performance of Sophie Okonedo as Cleopatra.
Capricious, self-obsessed and ever so slightly unhinged, Okonedo’s leading lady is the raging epicentre of the play, forcing others to respond to her earth-shaking movements as she unsettles their equilibrium and undermines the foundations of their best-laid plans.
It’s an emotionally wrought interpretation that reaches a high peak of intensity in the tear-stained, melodramatic final scene, but it’s also punctuated by inspired moments of levity and humour as Okonedo, bringing to life the manipulative fancies that pervade Cleopatra’s character, convincingly switches moods in the blink of an eye.
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