Pascal Rambert’s Antony and Cleopatra (1995): Deep in Love and in Water

In 1995 Pascal Rambert (born in 1962) was one of the young upcoming actors, theatre directors and dramatists of his generation. His reputation on the French stage was already well‑established and full of prospects, especially for the production of his own texts which were staged in the main national venues. Then he turned to Shakespeare, as many theatre directors did in the 90s in France, but his perspective baffled the actors and was rather badly received by the rare reviews devoted to his production. This work turned out to be at the origin of a deep personal crisis for Rambert who discarded the classics altogether to focus on his own dramas for which he received the prestigious “Prix de l’Académie française” in 2016.This paper explores and discusses some of the aesthetical stands taken by Rambert in his approach of the play: the poetry of the text which “overflows” the stage, the focus on the figure of Cleopatra as the leader in the relationship between the two lovers, and then the visual defeat of Antony at the battle of Actium with the actors having to play on a stage covered in water.