Evening star., 1951-04-29
Miss Leigh
plans Two
OIiviers to Play
Shokespeore's
And ShoW's
By Sydney Mirkin
LONDON,

LONDON.
Vivien Leigh is about to become
split personality, making his
tory in the process by playing two
Cleopatras.
Miss Leigh will play the young
Egyptian charmer in Skaw's
Caesar and Cleopatra" and the
mature, tragic peroine of Shake
speare's Anthony and Cleopatra"
in alternate performances begin
ming in May at London's st.
James Theater.
She describes the change as
from "a kitten in the first to a
panther in the second"
Sir Laurence Olivier. Miss
Leigh's husband, will direct and
act the male leads In the two
plays.
The Oliviers wanted to do
something special for the Festival
of Britain, but preliminary ex-
citement in London's drama
world indicates special may be
an understatement.
Sandwiching an interview be-
tween afternoon rehearsal and
evening costume fittings, Miss
Leigh looked amazingly beautiful
and relaxed as she discussed the
difficulties of the task she has
undertaken.
The first problem, she said, is
that there "always is some diff
Guilty in playing a legendary fig
ure because everybody has an
idea Of how she looked" The in
finite variety Of Cleopatra's char
acter makes the role subject to
difficulties 30 immense as TO be
almost insurmountable."
It's Stimulating.
And what does Miss Leigh think
about taking on this almost in
surmountable" task? q
II find it stimulating" she
smiled.
When the Oliviers put q play
or two-in rehearsal, there are
no halfway measures.
Aside from the formal rehearsals
they devote evenings to going over
their lines and spend week ends
at their country home shouting
ones part where the noise doesn't
bother people"
Miss Leigh also takes singing
lessons to keep her speaking voice
in trim and on this occasion at
least has had some visual educa-
ton. She went to see the film
Caesar and Cleopatra" to find
out how an earlier Vivien Leigh
played that role.
An integral part Of the prepara-
ton for the play Is research on
the character-a difficult task in
the case Of Cleopatra because so
little is known Of her.
Reading Plutarch.
Most critics say Shakespeare's
play is based largely on Plutarch's
life Of Antony, so Miss Leigh has
gone back to Plutarch to study
Cleopatra. One result Of her re-
search is that she will play the
part with red hair-a surprising
color for an Egyptian queen but
one vouched for by historians.
She also has decided that the
Transition from the 17-year-old
Igirl at the beginning Of Shaw's
lplay to the 39-year-old Cleopatra
who kills herself at the end of the
Shakespeare drama will be largely
a matter of vocal change.
Cleopatra'S character, she finds,
is remarkably the same in both
plays (up until the time Of An
Itonys deathO-a fact that leads
her to believe Shaw studied "An-
tony and Cleopatra" closely.
Miss Leigh was very much the
actress in discussing the "uncon-
scionable" time Cleopatra waited
before carrying out her suicide
pact with Antony. Her eyes SPAR
kled as she added that the period
between the deaths Of the lovers
Iallowed time for "the most Won
Iderful scene of all-her descrip-
Ition of Antony"
Good scenes mean much to ac-
TORS, even when they are husband
and wife. The cuts to bring "An-
tony and Cleopatra" down to the
time allowed for q modern play
sometimes lead to family discus
sions and "arguments-but not
real fights"