Skyline StageWorks

Distilling Antony and Cleopatra

Calling it "short, sweet, and sexy," the Skyline StageWorks theater company is staging Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra: UNDONE this fall at the Side Project space in Chicago, Ill. This is the company's inaugural production and a world premiere of the 80-minute, four-actor adaptation of William Shakespeare's epic play in which the original script has been dissembled and rebuilt into a stand-alone version. Selected highlights of the play's poetry encapsulate the humor, humanity, and allure of these quasi-mythological characters and allow a more intimate psychological exploration of them.

“We wanted to get at the essence of the relationship between Antony and Cleopatra,” co-writer Shawna Tucker said in a press release. “Plus, the play has been said to contain more first-rate poetry than any other play in the canon, and we think it should be made more familiar to audiences.”

Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra: UNDONE was developed in Atlanta, Ga., by Patricia Henritze and Tucker as part of the “Shakespeare for Small Stages Project,” aimed to design productions of the classics for theaters with the passion but not the budget for the more sprawling plays. This adaptation won a place in the Ethel Woolson Lab reading series presented by Working Title Playwrights in December 2010, and received a public staged reading in Decatur, Ga.

Skyline StageWorks is a new Chicago theatre company devoted to connecting exceptional artists with classic stories in intimate productions. Directed by John Arthur Lewis, Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra: UNDONE features Tucker as Cleopatra, James Sparling as Antony, Drew Mierjeweski as Octavius, and Bill Gordon as Player.

The play will run from Sept 5–Oct 5 at The Side Project, 1439 W. Jarvis, with performances taking place Thursdays–Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Opening night will be Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m., and an additional press night will be Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased beginning July 15 at Brown Paper Tickets, www.brownpaperticket.com, or at the door.

July 11, 2014

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