An ATV adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s celebrated stage production, chronicling the fateful romance between the Roman general and the Egyptian queen.
Mark Antony (Richard Johnson), one of the three triumvirs ruling the Roman world, has neglected his military duties for a life of decadent pleasure in Egypt with Queen Cleopatra (Janet Suzman). Recalled to Rome, he attempts to repair a political alliance with his rival, Octavius Caesar (Corin Redgrave), by marrying Caesar’s sister. The truce is short-lived; Antony’s obsession with Cleopatra draws him back to Egypt. Antony’s loyal lieutenant, Enobarbus (Patrick Stewart), watches with dismay as his commander’s all-consuming passion leads to a catastrophic war with Rome and, ultimately, to the lovers’ tragic suicides.
This production preserves Trevor Nunn’s celebrated Royal Shakespeare Company staging for a television audience. Director Jon Scoffield does not attempt to disguise the play’s theatrical roots; instead, he uses the intimacy of the camera to intensify the central performances. The broadcast was a significant piece of event television, making a landmark theatrical production accessible to a national audience. Richard Johnson is a powerful, conflicted Antony, but the production belongs to Janet Suzman. Her interpretation of Cleopatra is a formidable creation: volatile, sensual, and fiercely intelligent, a queen whose political acumen is undone by her passion.
Broadcast: ITV – ATV, 28 July 1974
Based on the play by: William Shakespeare
Stage Production by: Trevor Nunn
Television Director: Jon Scoffield
Associate Producer: Lorna Mason
Main Cast: Richard Johnson (Antony), Janet Suzman (Cleopatra), Patrick Stewart (Enobarbus), Corin Redgrave (Octavius Caesar), Ben Kingsley (Thidias), Tim Pigott-Smith (Dolabella), Patrick Godfrey (Maecenas), Raymond Westwell (Lepidus), Mary Rutherford (Octavia)
