William Shakespeare
Antony and Cleopatra
The full script in Final Draft, Word & PDF
Mark Antony, torn between Roman duty and Cleopatra, loses an empire and his life in a love story told across two worlds.
PDFs Only
$4.99
- ✓ Stageplay PDF (146 pp.)
- ✓ Screenplay PDF (128 pp.)
- ✓ Instant download
Full Package
$12.99
- ✓ Final Draft (.fdx)
- ✓ Microsoft Word + RTF
- ✓ Screenplay + Stageplay PDFs
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- Genre
- Tragedy
- Written
- c. 1606–1607
- Setting
- Rome, Egypt and the Mediterranean
- Scenes
- 42
- Speaking roles
- 53
- Uncut running time
- ~2h 55m
What happens in Antony and Cleopatra
After the death of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony shares power in Rome with Octavius Caesar and Lepidus, yet spends his time in Alexandria with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. News of his wife Fulvia's death and of rebellion draws him back to Rome, where he marries Octavius's sister Octavia to secure peace. The truce collapses and Antony returns to Cleopatra.
War follows. At the sea battle of Actium, Cleopatra's ships turn and Antony follows her, losing the fight. Octavius presses his advantage. Enobarbus, Antony's loyal officer, deserts and dies of shame. After a last victory and a final defeat, Antony hears a false report that Cleopatra is dead and falls on his sword. Cleopatra, refusing to be paraded in Octavius's triumph, arranges her own death.
See the formatting
The first page of Act I, exactly as it appears in the files you download.
The biggest roles
Share of the play's spoken words, counted from the script. 53 characters speak; 37 of them have under 1% of the text — natural candidates for doubling.
| Role | Share of the text | Speeches |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Antony | | 227 |
| Cleopatra | | 223 |
| Octavius Caesar | | 99 |
| Domitius Enobarbus | | 117 |
| Pompey | | 42 |
| Charmian | | 64 |
| Messenger | | 42 |
| Menas | | 35 |
For directors
Antony speaks about 25 percent of the words and Cleopatra about 20, with Octavius at 12 and Enobarbus at 10, so four roles carry the show. With 53 speaking roles, 37 of them under 1 percent, and 42 short scenes shifting between Rome and Egypt, the cast list is large but easy to cover by doubling. The uncut estimate is 175 minutes, so most productions cut substantially. The fast scene changes reward flexible staging over detailed sets.
Cutting notes
- Trim the Pompey strand, including the meeting at Misenum and the feast on the galley, which is the most political and least central material.
- Reduce the many short messenger and soldier scenes in the middle of the play to the ones that carry the war forward.
- Shorten Cleopatra's final-act dealings with Dolabella and Proculeius, keeping the monument and death scenes.
For teachers
Students study the opposition of Rome and Egypt, duty and passion, the idea of a public role against private feeling, and the way Cleopatra shapes her own legend. Often-taught passages include Enobarbus's barge speech, Antony's death, and Cleopatra's final scene with the asp. The play invites comparison with Julius Caesar and with Shakespeare's other late tragedies, as well as discussion of its structure of many short scenes.
Questions
Is this the complete, uncut text of Antony and Cleopatra?
Yes. Every file contains the full play — 42 scenes and about 23,900 spoken words. Cut it yourself in Word or Final Draft to fit your running time.
What is the difference between the stageplay and screenplay layouts?
The stageplay layout indents stage directions and sets dialogue full-width, like a theatre script. The screenplay layout follows film conventions: scene headings and action flush left, character names centred, dialogue in a narrower column. Both tiers include both layouts as PDFs; the Full Package adds editable Final Draft and Word files of each.
Can I use this Antony and Cleopatra script for a production or a class?
Yes. Shakespeare's plays are in the public domain, so there are no royalties to pay for staging them. Edit, stage, film or teach with these files.
How do I receive the files?
Right after checkout you land on a private download page, and the link is also emailed to you. It keeps working, so you can re-download any time.
