Antony and Cleopatra, National Theatre

Shakespeare's most sensuous lovestory comes to life on the National Theatre's Olivier stage with an all-star cast. It's the second large-scale Shakespeare production of the 2018 season, following on from Rufus Norris's disappointing and directionless Macbeth. We're hoping that Antony and Cleopatra raises the bar and reaches same high standard as the National's recent new writing.

Ralph Fiennes returns to the stage that launched his illustrious career more than 30 years ago to play aging warrior Antony. He has proven himself as one of the UK's most versatile actors, bringing that piercing gaze and clipped tone to film (The English Patient, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Harry Potter) and the stage (most recently The Master Builder at the The Old Vic). Thanks to extensive experience with the RSC, Fiennes is especially skilled in the subtleties of blank verse and to see him playing Shakespeare is always an Event.

The captivating queen Cleopatra will be played by Sophie Okenedo, who dazzled as Cressida at the National Theatre in 1999 and has since accumulated acclaim and awards on Broadway and the West End and in films including Hotel Rwanda and Mrs Mandela.

Together, Fiennes and Okenendo bring formidable talent to the Roman romance. As passionate as it is political, Antony and Cleopatra brings together duty and devotion with immense poetry and drama. Against the tumultuous uprisings of Ancient Rome, General Mark Antony and Egyptian Queen Cleopatra fall madly in love.

The thrilling power struggles of battle entwine with the lovers' intimacy and fatal attraction to tragic effect. Director Simon Godwin, who led a lively and pacy revival of Twelfth Night at the National in 2017, should bring a similar freshness to this compelling history play.

Public booking to Antony and Cleopatra at the National Theatre opens on Thursday 12 July, 8.30am