Antony and Cleopatra at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Antony and Cleopatra is a love story with the power to shatter nations. (Sound hyperbolic? Trust us, it’s not.) But reality has a way of intruding on romance, and love isn’t the only force at work here. Shaky political alliances, ambition and war threaten the borders of Cleopatra’s beloved Egypt. And as Antony scorns his duty to the Roman Empire from the soft harbor of his lover’s bed, the aspiring young ruler Octavius Caesar circles them like a hungry cat, the balance of power shifting with the unreliable desert sands.

This story is no less than epic, spanning decades and continents. And yet, as we bring Shakespeare indoors for the very first time at APT we find that it’s also shockingly intimate. A seven-character adaptation that distills and transcends, offering a chance to sit up close to Shakespeare’s hottest couple and experience their every bellow and sigh.