Antony and Cleopatra, Act 1

For those interested, here is a short clip from a RSC production of Act 1, Scene 3 to get a sense of how Cleopatra might be portrayed on-stage. It might give you insight into the first question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0B1xgqAdkM

Q1: In many ways, this is a play about acting, and no one acts more extravagantly as Cleopatra. As Enobarbarus (her servant) says about her, "I have seen her die twenty times upon poor moment" (1.2). Why does she spend so much of her time with Antony in 'costume' rather than being more 'real'? Why might a woman like Cleopatra view life as a performance? 

Q2: How do the Romans in the play, such as Caesar, regard Antony's behavior? Though he's a great warrior and clearly a great lover (to win Cleopatra's affections), what makes him seem 'unmanly' to them? How might this relate to other definitions of manhood in Lear and Macbeth? 

Q3: In a tragedy we might expect Antony to be a dramatic and pathetic (in the best sense, as opposite to bathetic); however, Shakespeare's Antony is very different than the typical portrayal of this famous soldier. How might he have more in common in King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, and (from a play we didn't read) Hamlet? What kind of person is he in Act 1?

Q4: In Act 1, we get a brief glimpse of Rome (Scene IV) and several of Egypt. Why is Egypt written almost entirely in prose (except for the lovers), and Rome entirely in verse? Why might Shakespeare want us to hear this tonal and stylistic contrast?