By Captain Pyke | October 5, 2010 - 10:06 pm

Kate Mulgrew is set to premiere her latest theater endeavor this Friday in Hartford, Connecticut. 'Antony and Cleopatra' is one of Shakespeare's greatest romantic tragedies. A story of the love and loss that gave birth to an empire. The show marks the re-opening of the Hartford Stage after it's nearly $4 million renovation including a new roof, better lobby access for the disabled, updated restrooms and performance lighting.

The show is set to run from October 8th through November 6th with Kate & co-star John Douglas Thompson who The New York Times calls "A major classical actor!". According to a recent Hartford Courant interview, Kate was questioning whether to have a live snake on stage during the play's climactic death scene.

"I meet the snake at today's rehearsals," she said at a recent breakfast interview in downtown Hartford. "I asked for a live snake and I got it. It's supposed to be trained. I think it's important that it be live, if I can manage it. Snakes are scary, which is why that moment is so fantastic. I want to see if the snake will coil itself naturally around me. If it will, it will be worth it. If it won't and it's unwieldy and it makes women in the audience scream, we might have to reassess it."

On the topic of her iconic role as the ruler of Egypt, "I always wanted to play this role," says Mulgrew. "She's the most complex, richest, most developed female character Shakespeare's ever written, and the writing is spectacular. And let us not forget how astutely political she was. Also, her intelligence was so keen and almost overdeveloped for that time in the ancient world. She spoke 15 languages. Incredible. But first and foremost, she was a queen, and boy, did she know it."

Show info:

Kate Mulgrew and John Douglas Thompson

in William Shakespeare’s ANTONY & CLEOPATRA

Directed by Tina Landau

Starting October 8th at 8pm EDT

Buy Tickets Here

To learn more about the show, check out the Hartford Stage website here.

(quote source Hartford Courant)