STAGE WEST: "Cleopatra" at Moxie Theatre

"Cleopatra" is a joint production between Moxie Theatre and Loud Fridge Theatre Group.

            Like an Egyptian barge and a Roman barge passing in the night, Moxie Theatre is opening its 20th season while Loud Fridge Theatre Group closes its second with the world premiere of Joy Yvonne Jones’ solo show “Cleopatra.”
            It’s an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra” with a contemporary, proto-feminist feel, performed with passion and ferocity by Jones, a prominent figure on San Diego’s theater scene who is now based in Houston.
            So how do you pull off a one-person “Antony and Cleopatra” and do so in 90 minutes?
            First, you make the production all about the powerful and captivating Queen of Egypt. The story of Cleopatra’s rise to the Egyptian throne, her relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony through the post-Battle of Actium sacrifice of her own life is told entirely through her perspective as dramatized by Jones. Caesar is never seen, Antony (portrayed by DeAndre Simmons) appears only in the accompanying film directed by Laura Skokan that serves as a timeline and atmospheric backdrop to Jones’ solo performance. (One actor, Kayla Adorno, is onstage with Jones as maidservant Charmian, but never speaks.)
            Second, you allow the film sequences and a few audience volunteers to provide much of the exposition which lets Jones inhabit Cleopatra on both cerebral and emotional levels. Whether honoring Shakespeare’s script or moving seductively to recorded R&B or a slice of Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby,” Jones is the personification of a legendary woman who indulged her ambition and exuded her power in a variety of larger-than-life ways.
            Because “Cleopatra” is a one-person show composed of episodic scenes and broken up by film sequences, it does feel slow at times even as it moves resolutely through history. When Jones is offstage to change costumes (which she does frequently), the story grinds to a temporary halt. But temporary it is under the direction of Andrea Agosto, and the time in between can be used to imagine what the stunning Jones might be wearing next.
            Costume consultant Zoe Trautmann, choreographer Lesa M. Green and projection designer Michael Wogulis are important contributors to the look and ambient effect of this production.
            I’m pretty well versed in the history of this time and the personages key to it, and Jones’ “Cleopatra” is faithful to the facts even as it modernizes in language and attitude the Queen of the Nile. This script is a tribute to all that she was as a woman and to her devotion to Egypt.
            As I’ve written before, one-person plays are not my favorite theatrical diversions. Much depends on the ability of the performer to carry the content and compensate for the dearth of “action.” The film sequences are helpful here but what makes “Cleopatra” just compelling enough is Jones’ charisma and stage presence. This is most evident at the very end of the show when her Cleopatra is reflecting on the last few minutes of her life and the eternal reunion she aspires to with her Mark Antony. Jones is regal and tender.
            Spoiler alert: There’s no asp, either.
            “Cleopatra” runs through Sept. 7 at Moxie Theatre in Rolando.