CLEO & ANTHONY – military glamour

CLEO & ANTHONY

ON THE EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY – BLUBOKS CINETHEATER WITH EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD STUDENTS OF THE MILITARY HIGH SCHOOL IN ORZYSZ PRESENT:

Cleopatra and Antony, or: Power with a Human Face

Music: Joanna Kamieniecka and Ensemble
A Polish-American blues-opera: fragments of Shakespeare’s drama, (translated by L. Urlich) and contemporary war reports
Dramatis Personnae: Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt
Chorus I: Cleopatra’s entourage
Mark Antony, Roman triumvir
Octavian Augustus, Roman triumvir
Octavia, sister of Octavian
Chorus II: friends and soldiers of the Roman triumvirs
Sextus Pompey, Roman ruler struggling against the Second Triumvirate
Narrator – war correspondent

NARRATOR:
In The Roman Kingdom over 2,000 years ago Caesar ensured Cleopatra rule over Egypt. After pacifying Alexandria, both set off on a journey south down the Nile. In the late April of 47 b.c.e., Caesar departed from Egypt, leaving behind three legions. Soon thereafter, their son, Caesarion, was born. In 44 Caesar perished. The Second Triumvirate was called. Mark Antony met with Cleopatra to unite Egypt against the Parthians. Civil war looms large; strange madness all around the Mediterranean Sea; a great many omens, harbingers, and bizarre rumors. Irritation and anxiety reign. The tourist market dries up. Though the sounds of battle have died down, it is too soon to declare a long-lasting truce. There is cause for disquiet, although, apart from a few incidents, peace prevails. And the two rulers – Cleopatra and Antony – seem to be beyond time…

CHORUS I:
When Cleopatra set down on dry land, Mark Antony invited her to a banquet. Etc….

CHORUS II:
Caesar wants to lead Cleopatra triumphantly to Rome
like a straw dummy before a gaping crowd
The dirty riffraff will hoist her up
The simpleton security guard will grab her like a trollop
The wretched poetaster will croon a ballad about her
A mob of cut-rate comedians will ape her gestures
A drunken Antony will take the stage
And a squealing kid will play Cleopatra
As a miserable tramp…….etc……

CLEOPATRA:
Our lamp is snuffed, ladies!
I freeze like a marble statue
I sail to meet Antony
I am dying!

CHORUS II:
No grave has ever coddled a more famed couple to sleep.

CHORUS I and II:
Speak in a whisper – we sleep.