Charles Busch's Cleopatra
- Full Length Play, Comedy, Greek; Roman; Biblical
- 5M, 3F
- ISBN: 9780573705397
The turbulent life of Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile, is told, viewed though the outrageous comic lens of master parodist Charles Busch.
Description
- Full Length Play
- Comedy
- 90 minutes
- Time Period: Greek; Roman; Biblical
- Target Audience: Adult
- Set Requirements: Unit Set/Multiple Settings
- Cautions: Strong Language, Mild Adult Themes
- Performance Group:
- prfess, Dinner Theatre, Community Theatre, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, College Theatre / Student
Evoking both 1930's Hollywood epics and the grand 19th Century romantic theatre of Sarah Bernhardt, this version of life of the ill-fated Egyptian Queen takes her from her teenage seduction of the Roman leader Julius Caesar through her volatile tragic romance with Marc Antony and to her ultimate death.
Charles Busch's Cleopatra has echoes of the many great stars that have played her on stage and on film, such as Claudette Colbert, Elizabeth Taylor, Vivien Leigh and several who thankfully didn't, including Jean Harlow, Barbara Stanwyck and Mae West.
REVIEWS:
"...always smartly campy, often over-the-top, occasionally very raunchy, and always hilarious -- with an infinite all-you-can-eat buffet of priceless lines and situations running throughout."
Huffington Post
Characters
- Casting: 5M, 3F
- Casting Attributes: Reduced casting (Doubling Possible), Non-Traditional casting, Cross gender casting, Expandable casting, Drag performance
- Casting Notes: The original production had a cast of eight actors, with several roles doubled. The play can also be performed with a larger cast each playing only one role. Several roles in the original production used cross gender casting. This is not a necessity. What is important is that each role be played with total conviction. The humor must not derive from the role being played by someone of the opposite sex, but from the lines and situation being comic.
Suggested doubling and gender crossed casting:Octavian / Octavia - played by a woman
Caesar / Calpurnia / Lepidus - played by a man
Apollodorus / Achmed - played by a man
Cleopatra - played by a man
CAESAR - Magnetic Roman leader in his late middle age.
MARC ANTONY - Handsome, gruff warrior with a fatal weakness for women.
OCTAVIAN - Young ruthlessly ambitious heir to Caesar.
APOLLODRUS - Musclebound devoted slave to Cleopatra.
SOOTHSAYER - Nervous, highly emotional wandering prophet.
CHARMION - Beautiful young handmaiden to Cleopatra and very much in charge.
IRAS - Lovely handmaiden to Cleopatra, with a bawdy sense of humor.
CALPURNIA - Caesar's imposing and imperious wife.
OCTAVIA - Octavian's gentle and delicately beautiful twin sister.
LEPIDUS - A worldly and dignified elder Roman Senator.
ACHMED - A violent, unscrupulous slave trader.
Available Material
| Name | Price |
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Charles Busch's Cleopatra Script
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The turbulent life of Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile, is told, viewed through the outrageous comic lens of master parodist Charles Busch. |
$24.95 |
