Virgin'd Lips and Afric' Serpents: Coriolanus, Antony, and True Copies

Is Cleopatra, "the Serpent of Old Nile," the referent of Aufidius' exclamation "Not Afric owns  a serpent I abhor / More than thy fame and envy"? The question seems less preposterous when we recall that Cleopatra would have originally been played in black paint and that Desdemona hesitates at the "whore" in abhor. 

I would like for the participants in the masterclass to consider Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra ​together, especially in relation to the male protagonists' travels from Rome, acquisition of color, sexual activity, and reproduction. To what extent does the re-coloration of these military men make questions of their manhood dramatically inseparable from whiteness of complexion or of character? We will spend our time discussing textual details as cues for performance. Participants are encouraged to bring stills, short films, and the like to share. If time permits, we will also engage in some intelligent speculation about what seems an increasing trend of casting black men as Coriolanus.

If you are an MA or PhD student who would like to join this masterclass, please RSVP to Brittany Scowcroft (crems-enquiries@york.ac.uk).