CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA Independent Theatre Odeon Theatre Until 12 Apr 2014 Review by Aaron MacDonald Ah, Cleopatra. Supreme ruler of Egypt, Queen of the Nile, reincarnation of Isis and reputedly the greatest fellatrix to ever have lived (or at least the most prolific). What better subject than her for a little light dramedy? David Roach brings a necessary world-weariness to the role – a Caesar who has, a few short years before his death, seen it all (and conquered much of it, too). It contrasts wonderfully with the petulant – almost spoiled – naiveté of Alicia Zorkovic’s Cleopatra – but then, that’s sort of the point of the show. Well done to perennial IT director Rob Croser for this most excellent piece of casting, and to Roach and Zorkovic too. This is not a play about Caesar and Cleopatra; it’s a play about Cleopatra. More specifically, her coming of age – her growth from a whiny, needy, histrionic young woman to a… well, a whiny, needy histrionic, slightly older woman (cf. “Antony and Cleopatra”). Jokes aside, it is this growth that Croser has focussed his full attention on, and Roach, as Caesar, does his best to impart his wisdom and experience to Zorkovic, the young queen, and help her to eventually win her game of thrones (spoiler warning). It is a touching father-daughter relationship, albeit with some actual touching. Elsewhere in the cast, there is good work. Nicholas Ely is amusingly simpering as Cleo’s brother’s/husband’s guardian, King regent and resident eunuch Pothinus (tough to fit on a business card), and Michael Pole steals a few scenes as Caesar’s British slave-de-camp. Keith Wilson also does a nice job portraying a multi-layered Rufio, Caesar’s second-in-command – a keen and pragmatic military mind hiding behind boisterous bluster and ridiculous facial hair. The set (Croser, Roach and Ely) is large and impressive. It is modular, and the smallfolk move it around during the scene breaks; tables turn to beds turn to Sphinxes. It is paired with good lighting design (Matthew Marciniak) to conjure up the feeling of being on the Nile. However, Roma uno die non est condita, and neither is Croser’s Alexandria. The large set pieces are most impressive, but they take time to move into place, which means long scene breaks. But despite all of this, the show lacks something crucial: impetus. You know that sensation of walking through sand? You make progress, but it slow and laboured and you sink into the ground with each step? That’s it. It moves but slowly. It does not crack along. The scene breaks do not help, and the cast – even the main cast, whose virtues are exhorted above, have a frequent tendency to chew the scenery in a way which takes the audience out of the moment. It’s a disappointment, because Independent Theatre shows do not usually suffer this drag. Caesar and Cleopatra is good, not great. It is perfectly watchable. But compared to some of the company’s recent offerings, it is a little veni vidi oscitavi.