The Next Queen . . . Cleopatra Rocks!
My people want a Pharaoh
Want a mother
Want a goddess
Want a party.
Rome can kneel and kiss the ring
I’m Cleopatra – Queen of Kings
Queen of the Nile, oenophile
Drink you under the table by a Roman mile
Lyrics from On Top
We all go to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the hope of discovering the next big thing, and we have 3,600 to choose from! Having seen shows like Six and Operation Mincemeat in their first incarnations, I can see great things for House of Cleopatra.
There is plenty of material in the life of Cleopatra (Emilie Louise Israel). Her beauty, love life and politics are legendary. House of Cleopatra starts with her relationship with Mark Anthony (Marcellus Whyte, he even has a real Roman name). The Roman influences are resisted by Iris (Becky Sanneh) sometimes Cleopatra’s hand maiden but here her chief advisor.
Having defeated Brutus and Cassius in the war, Mark Antony and Octavius (Harry Singh) were both rivals to succeed Julius Caesar but had fallen out when Mark Antony abandoned his wife Octavia, Octavius’s sister for Cleopatra. Octavius will become the next Roman Emperor called Augustus Caesar.
The Beyoncé inspired music is composed by Jeff Daye, the Book by Laura Kleinbaum and together they have written the lyrics. The emphasis is on the love affair between Cleopatra and Mark Antony: the sexy lyrics “How much I want you, How hard I need you” in the song “Torture” are rousing.
This is a thrilling musical with fabulous performances from actors with strong singing voices. Emilie Louise Israel has a brilliant range with anthems and ballads and her duets with Marcellus Whyte are equally melodic. I have been listening to the music from the 2019 American production of Cleopatra The Musical Experience on Spotify and enjoy the tunes and variety.
I feel so many of these songs could be hits on their own but together they are explosive. In the words of “Burning Up”, Iris in conjunction with Octavius advises Cleopatra against her alliance with Antony. In reality the Egyptian army led by Mark Antony is disorganised and the soldiers ill equipped and hungry.
The show has a Mistress of Ceremonies, River Medway who was seen on Ru Paul’s Drag Race and incidentally, most recently wearing the mustard damask costume with Tudor bonnet for the honorary doctorate degree at the University of Greenwich at Medway. I loved the fashion of this show as attention has been paid to costume design by Rachael Ryan with ripped Mark Antony’s body armour and Cleopatra’s feisty boots.
Alexzandra Sarmiento is the choreographer and her dancers are energetic and mix with the audience. One of the most exciting moments is the entrance of Octavius with his red clad Romans in “Checkmate”. ,
It runs at one hour ten minutes so in future it’ll need to be longer but the tunes are worth repeating. At present in Edinburgh it is a queer-centred, immersive show with a party atmosphere.
Commercially the show will need to be re-designed and re-directed so as to be played in smaller theatres but much larger spaces than the Assembly Checkpoint. There are a few seats here but you’ll see the show better standing. Also Edinburgh “found spaces” are often a problem in terms of sound design and some of Daye’s and Kleinbaum’s articulate lyrics unfortunately get lost but are as clear as crystal on the Spotify recording.
Sadly with its present quarter past midnight closing time at the Assembly Checkpoint, people who can’t afford really central Edinburgh accommodation are missing it. We drove!
I look forward to seeing House of Cleopatra develop and reading the five star reviews for this promising show.
Musical Numbers
Surrender
Heaven on Earth
He’s Home
Exceptional
Torture
I Can’t Breathe
Burning Up
On Top
Checkmate
Stranger
Who You Were Tonight
Note: Songs from the original production of Cleopatra The Musical Experience 2019
Production Notes
House of Cleopatra
Book by Laura Kleinbaum
Music composed by Jeff Daye
Lyrics by Jeff Daye and Laura Kleinbaum
Choreographed by Alexzandra Sarmiento
Directed by Christopher D Clegg
Cast
Starring:
Chloe Gentles
River Medway
Marcellus Whyte
Harry Singh
Emilie Louise Israel
Shakeel Kimotho
Becky Sanneh
Emily Tang
Karys Rozario
Edan Smart
Luke Perry
Creatives
Director: Christopher D Clegg
Choreographer: Alexzandra Sarmiento
Costume Designer: Rachael Ryan
Musical Supervisor: Lloyd Kikoler
Lighting Designer: Toby P Darvill
Information
Running Time: One hour 10 minutes without an interval
Booking until 25th August 2024 at 11.15pm
Venue:
Assembly Checkpoint
3 Bristo Place
Edinburgh
EH1 1EY
Telephone: 0131 623 3000
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge
at Assembly Checkpoint
on 4th August 2024
