'Antony and Cleopatra' review – the use of sign language adds a powerful contemporary message to Shakespeare's play

Read our review of history play Antony and Cleopatra, now in performances at Shakespeare's Globe to 15 September.

In Blanche McIntyre’s production of Antony and Cleopatra, the language barrier (as well as the cultural differences) between the Romans and Egyptians is made explicit. The Romans communicate through speech and the Egyptians through sign language. It’s a play with a leisurely pace in which there’s a lot of talk and a good deal of the action takes place offstage.

Antony and Cleopatra was previously staged at the Globe a decade ago starring Clive Wood and Eve Best, and McIntyre has set herself a considerable challenge as this isn’t the most familiar of Shakespeare’s works, nor is it the easiest to become immersed in. A production of Romeo and Juliet, in which the two houses are divided by speech and sign language, or A Midsummer Night’s Dream where the fairies communicate through sign language and the humans throw words around might have more immediacy.

We observe that the Romans have been learning sign language; some are halting, while others have become quite fluent. For most audience members, there’s a choice between watching the actors or following the subtitles, and it isn’t easy finding a balance.

The nuanced captions, designed by Ben Glover and Sarah Readman, feature different fonts for the Romans and Egyptians. Nadia Nadarajah’s Cleopatra dismisses Antony’s new bride Octavia as “a body rather than a life”; she herself conveys all of life with her body through the expressive nature of sign language.

The staging is traditional and handsome; the Romans, dressed in a burgundy colour scheme, always look ready for battle, while the Egyptians’ dress is more colourful and fluid. The brass quartet that underscores key scenes (the ancient horn, played by Letty Stott, is a remarkable-looking instrument) lends a cinematic quality and the suggestion that the project might have potential on screen.

Pitched somewhere between a history play, comedy and tragedy, the production is most effective in building the relationship between Cleopatra and her ladies-in-waiting Charmian (Zoe McWhinney) and Iras (Gabriella Leon), with Nadeem Islam boosting the humour as Alexas/Mardian, Cleopatra’s two servants who are accepted as part of the female coterie. In one of the most striking moments, Cleopatra is ultimately forced to speak when her hands are tied.

John Hollingworth’s Antony is credible as a great soldier who has gone to seed in sensual Egypt and, stripped of his Roman dignity, who makes a meal of his suicide. Bert Seymour is a head boy-ish Octavian Caesar (adopted son of Julius) and Daniel Millar makes a plain-speaking Enobarbus.

Though the production is something of an endurance test, it's worth remembering that hearing audiences who don’t know BSL are merely required to spend two-and-a-half hours between the hearing and Deaf worlds – such a sense of dislocation is something that the Deaf community is essentially required to navigate on a full-time basis. It's a powerful contemporary message for this classic play.

Antony and Cleopatra is at Shakespeare's Globe through 15 September. Book Antony and Cleopatra tickets on London Theatre.

Photo credit: Antony and Cleopatra (Photos by Ellie Kurttz)