Abstract
Performance of Practice Research piece ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA: A CUT AND A CASE FOR TWO ACTORS. This piece of practice-research uses only the “parts” of Antony and Cleopatra as they appear in the Folio (see Tiffany Stern and Simon Palfrey on parts) to inform the development of a post-modern adaptation of a script that operates at the interface of original practices, physical theatre, and punk. Next, “punk performance theory” and practice emphasise shifting performance dynamics. Further, physical approaches to characterisation from conservatoire training (Laban, Viewpoints, animal work) serve the developing somatic narrative. Finally, Peter Brook’s theories of space in Shakespearean text are re-evaluated in the light of this performance’s development, and new connections between this classic text and cutting-edge theatre practice today emerge. The performance suggests that post-Globe performance can reinvigorate literary-critical paradigmatic views of Shakespeare’s plays in a radical new context, by exploiting some of the creative opportunities overlooked in the original practices experiments during the first decade of performances at the reconstructed Globe