Photo Flash: In Rehearsal with Ralph Fiennes, Sophie Okonedo, and the Cast of ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA

Anthony and Cleopatra previews from 18 September in the National's Olivier Theatre, in repertoire until 19 January. It's broadcast live as part of NT Live to cinemas worldwide on 6 December.

Caesar and his assassins are dead. General Mark Antony now rules alongside his fellow defenders of Rome. But at the fringes of a war-torn empire the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra and Mark Antony have fallen fiercely in love.

In a tragic fight between devotion and duty, obsession becomes a catalyst for war. Politics and passion are violently intertwined in Shakespeare's gripping tale of power.

Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo play the famous fated couple. Simon Godwin (Twelfth Night) directs.

Cast also includes Fisayo Akinade, Alexander Cobb, Hiba Elchikhe, Henry Everett, Gerald Gyimah, Waleed Hammad, Tunji Kasim, Georgia Landers, Nicholas Le Prevost, Tim McMullan, Hannah Morrish, Shazia Nicholls, Gloria Obianyo, Nick Sampson, Katy Stephens, Alan Turkington, Ben Wiggins, Sam Woolf and Sargon Yelda.

Directed by Simon Godwin, set designs by Hildegard Bechtler, costume design by Evie Gurney, lighting designs by Tim Lutkin, music byMichael Bruce, movement direction by Jonathan Goddard and Shelley Maxwell, sound design by Christopher Shutt, video design by Luke Halls and fight direction by Kev McCurdy.

Production supported by Areté Foundation / Betsy & Ed Cohen, Mary M. Miner, Leila Maw Straus, Shawn M. Donnelley and Christopher M. Kelly, Monica Gerard-Sharp, and the Antony & Cleopatra production appeal.

Official Hotel Partner Edwardian Hotels.

Broadcast live as part of NT Live to cinemas worldwide on 6 December

Photo Credit: Johan Persson