Antony and Cleopatra

Shakespeare Antony and Cleopatra play. Directed 2017 by Iqbal Khan at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Stars Joseph Adelakun (Scarus/Mardian), Ben Allen (Octavius Caesar), Kristin Atherton (Iras), Will Bliss (Soothsayer), David Burnett (Pompey), Antony Byrne (Mark Antony), James Corrigan (Agrippa), Paul Dodds (Menas), Patrick Drury (Lepidus/Schoolmaster), Waleed Elgardi (Alexas), Sean Hart (Eros), Amber James (Charmian), Luke MacGregor (Proculeius/Menecrates), Anthony Ofoegbu (Diomedes), Dharmesh Patel (Ventidius), Lucy Phelps (Octavia), Josette Simon (Cleopatra), Jon Tarcy (Demetrius), Marcello Walton (Maecenas), and Andrew Woodall (Enobarbus). Set design by Robert Innes Hopkins; lighting design by Tim Mitchell; music by Laura Mvula; sound by Carolyn Downing; movement by Villmore James; fights by Kev McCurdy. Has a director's commentary. Directed for TV by Robin Lough; produced by John Wyver. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Following Caesar's assassination, Mark Antony has reached the heights of power. Now he has neglected his empire for a life of decadent seduction with his mistress, Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. Torn between love and duty, Antony's military brilliance deserts him, and his passion leads the lovers to their tragic end.

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Here's news about high-definition video disc ("HDVD") recordings of opera, ballet, classical music, plays, fine-art documentaries, and paintings. In the journal below are independent (and hard-to-find critical) reports on hundreds of HDVDs. Pick the best titles for your excelsisphere.

Feb 25. We have just completed one of our most ambitious reviews: Einstein on the Beach opera, the surreal 4 and 1/2 hour cult legend. Kudos, encomiums, and accolades to Opus Arte for giving us this authoritative and weirdly fascinating recording, which we grade A+. Absorbing and learning Einstein is uniquely challenging. We try to help out by providing aids not included in the keepcase materials: an accurate libretto and a list of segments in the opera with correct Opus Arte time stamps. Good luck!

We have some other good grades with an A for the recent Met The Pearl Fishers (Les pêcheurs de perles) and a B- for an earlier The Pearl Fishers from Naples. Also, we recently gave an A- for the new Don Quixote from the Vienna State Ballet.