Who Is Cleopatra?

Commonwealth Club of California Podcast - A podcast by Commonwealth Club of California

From 41BC to September 2022, the persona of Cleopatra has been modeled as an archetype of female power and beauty. Yet—as with most tellings of history—her story has been mostly written by men who never knew her. Providing another context, in concurrence with John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra premiere, San Francisco Opera’s Diversity, Equity and Community department presents a panel of women arts leaders to ask and answer: In the struggle for equal rights, who is Cleopatra? [mis]judged, [mis]treated and [mis]portrayed?  Join us as our Women in Arts panel forcefully addresses these questions. Moderated by singer and stage director Erin Neff, the panel includes Antony and Cleopatra’s Director Elkhanah Pulitzer, and African-American Shakespeare Company Founder and Executive Director Sherri Young, along with other noted Bay Area female art makers and historians. MLF ORGANIZER Anne W. Smith SPEAKERS Rita Lucarelli Associate Professor of Egyptology, University of California, Berkeley Elkhanah Pulitzer Director, Antony and Cleopatra 2022, San Francisco Opera Sherri Young Founder and Executive Director, African-American Shakespeare Company Erin Neff Speaker; Singer; Stage Director; Voice Instructor—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 20th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices