Stiffs in Suits Sap Sexiness of Shakespeare Dallas’ Antony and Cleopatra

Shakespeare Dallas‘ fall production, Antony and Cleopatra, sports two sexy leads in Daniel Duque-Estrada (who’s also a company member at Dallas Theater Center) and the lush-voiced Joanna Schellenberg. As the Bard’s title characters, they create sizzling chemistry, obvious even from the back of the sprawling Samuell Grand Amphitheater. They speak the poetry beautifully, too, in a play known more for its lilting speeches than a confounding plot chopped into 42 brief scenes (the most of any Shakespeare play).

Yes, Tony and Cleo have heat. Too bad all those guys in suits keep interrupting their smooching to talk military strategy. Those are Romans with the slick black suits and iPads, by the way, and Egyptians in khaki garb with paper messages. Director René Moreno and costumer Barbara C. Cox have put the ancients in contemporary clothes, a gimmick that works against the play. They have at least allowed Antony to appear shirtless in one scene.

The cast is gorgeous and the production looks spectacular on a set of elegant columns and stair-stepped platforms designed by Donna Marquet and exquisitely lit by Linda Blase. So why does the show get so boring so quickly? One reason: Actors enter, strike a pose, stand stiffly and deliver lines. Only Schellenberg and Duque-Estrada breathe life and movement into their characters.