It’s all about casting and it’s not an easy task to cast two roles that have been played by legends such as Elizabeth Taylor, Claudette Colbert, Sophia Loren, Richard Burton, Charlton Heston, Marlon Brando. While keeping an open mind helps, you have to believe and at no point did A Noise Within’s “Antony and Cleopatra” convince me that the two leads were the commanders of nations  involved in a tragic love affair.

Under the co-direction of Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott, Antony (Geoff Elliott) is whiny and Cleopatra (Susan Angelo) tends toward hysterics. Granted some leeway and kudos should be given to Angelo who took over the role of the legendary queen in mid-February, giving her only three weeks to learn the role. Yes we were sometimes puzzled. Are we supposed to laugh at the predicament of Antony who is widowed then then married off to Octavia (Angela Gulner), the sister of Octavius Caesar (Max Rosenak) while Cleopatra expects to be his next wife? There is a bit of slapstick involved when Cleopatra gets the news and she punishes the messenger of these bad tidings but where is Cleopatra, the woman who seduced Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and others and used her sexual skills and fertility to bind her country to other nations?

The whole production lacks clarity and you get the idea that the directors are not quite accustomed to their new digs. Were we really meant to laugh in certain places? The balance between tragedy and comedy is always present in Shakespeare’s tragedies, but the Elliotts didn’t, to my mind, successfully pull this off. The set is minimalist–with scaffolding used to create a two-tiered set and the set pieces are different pillows for the Egyptians and some nice, but sensible chairs for the Romans. The Romans are costumed in a dark brick red tunics that sometimes commit that no-no of having hems that dip in the front as if the original wearer had more volume in front than the current person. The Egyptians are very colorful in a belly dancer party way, but even the color purple doesn’t give Angelo a majestic look. Everyone seems to be wearing leggings–good thing because not all the Romans know how to sit in skirts.

Angelo doesn’t have the regal bearing and the lack of chemistry between Angelo and Geoff Elliott gives us simmer instead of combustible. This couple could be caught in a Woody Allen urban relationship story and I hate Woody Allen. Then there’s the mystery as to why when the long wavy brown locks of Cleopatra before the intermission are traded in for a more traditional dark straight-haired shoulder length wig.

Ken Merckx choreographed the fight scenes and my expert says that this wasn’t true to the period and fencing type moves don’t go with short swords and shields.  The warriors squared off and paired up as if involved in a pseudo violent ancient variation of the American square dance. I’m all for law and order on TV, but order is hardly the way of hand-to-hand combat.

The new home for A Noise Within allows for people descending down from the ceiling like ninjas, but with less acrobatic choreography. It did help give the feeling of fighting between ships, but then there was the curious moment later when people were just hanging about.

By the second act, as Antony was preparing to die, you wished the ninjas had stuck around to teach these Roman warriors how to commit suicide. Enough whining! Get on with it. My quick look at Wikipedia reveals that Antony did hang around and get hoisted up to Cleopatra, but the gravity of the moment was replaced by my impatience to get home. I didn’t care enough about this couple and their ill-fated love affair.

According to the production notes, the Elliotts felt that “Until now, we just didn’t have the physical capability to give this play, with its many battle scenes and great surround, the grandness it deserves.”

Unfortunately, this production is neither grand tragedy nor a sweeping romance. For those who panned Heston as Antony, you might want to re-think that assessment. Taylor and Burton might be performances worth watching again. Now I’m curious to see Brando in his physical prime playing a hyper-masculine Antony.

As much as I love Shakespeare and live stage productions, I’d advise turning to Netflix over this production.

“Antony and Cleopatra” continues until 13 May 2012.

Single tickets are $46 (Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees); $42 (Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings and Saturday matinees); and $34 (previews).  Groups (10 or more) are $27 (weekdays and Saturday matinees), and $32 (Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees); School Groups (10 or more) are $16 (weekdays and matinees), or $20 (Saturday evenings).

A NOISE WITHIN is located on the corner of Foothill Boulevard and Sierra Madre Villa Avenue at 3352 East Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA  91107.  Free self-parking is located in the Sierra Madre Villa Metro parking structure, with entrances on northbound Sierra Madre Villa Avenue or North Halstead Street. To purchase tickets, call (626) 356-3100 ext. 1or visit www.ANoiseWithin.org.