Reviewed by James Karas
Coriolanus is a sprawling
play with numerous scene changes from the streets of Rome and Carioli, to army
camps, and to other exterior and interior scenes. It has about sixty characters
and is performed much less frequently than Shakespeare’s other Roma plays. It
is not an easy piece to produce.
What can you get in a tiny
theatre like London’s Donmar Warehouse (capacity 251) with a brilliant director
and a first rate cast of fourteen actors? A great deal, in fact. You will get a
taut, sinewy production that brings out the strengths of the play even if you
are sitting in a movie theatre and witnessing a National Theatre Live telecast.
Director Josie Rourke has edited
the play to its essentials by deleting or doubling up the minor characters.
Citizens, senators, conspirators, servicemen, lords, officers - all are played
by three ensemble actors, if at all. The
production gains much by not having a horde on stage and is thus able to
transition from one scene to the next quickly and seamlessly.
The key to the play is the
character of Coriolanus and his interplay with the citizens of Rome, his family
and the enemy Volscians, especially their general, Tullus Aufidius.
Coriolanus (played by Tome
Hiddleston in an extraordinary performance) is a war machine who slaughters for
glory and country. Rourke has him covered in blood and that is the only time
when Coriolanus feels at ease. Hiddleston is young, athletic and portrays the
brave, arrogant and somewhat psychotic Coriolanus to perfection. Coriolanus
professes love of country but his real and perhaps only love is martial glory
that can only be gained through immense courage and slaughter on the
battlefield.
His character is complemented by
his mother, the powerful and equally ambitious Volumnia played by Deborah
Findlay. Volumnia is a woman only because of her fixtures but that forces her
to live for glory vicariously. Her son is the product of her ambitions and in
the end she is the only one that can sway him. Findlay is equal to the role and
she exudes power, authority and cunning.
The stunning-looking Birgitte
Hjort Sørensen plays Virgilia, Coriolanus’s hapless wife. She is stuck between
the mother-son vice and does not have any wiggle room to influence anything.
The source of glory for Coriolanus
is Aufidius (Hadley Fraser), the leader of the enemy Volscians. He is the
mirror image of Coriolanus as a war machine but has been repeatedly defeated by
the Roman. Coriolanus, in act of ultimate treachery, goes to join the Volscians
and kneels before Aufidius. Aufidius falls on his knees and kisses Coriolanus
on the lips. A brilliant touch by Rourke.
Coriolanus despises the Roman
plebeians with a visceral hatred that is almost matched by his opinion of the
upper class. Rourke presents both the lower and upper crusts with economy and effectiveness
and I think we see Coriolanus’s psychotic side more easily than if we head a
huge crowd on the stage.
Menenius (Mark Gatiss) stands
uneasily among the blood thirst, arrogance, fanaticism and hideous conduct as
the voice of reason, decency and tolerance. He does not stand a chance.
The set by Lucy Osborne
consisting largely of a back wall painted red with graffiti on it suggests a
protest movement in a modern city. The costumes are modified modern meaning
that some of the military uniforms hark back to another age whereas the rest of
the clothing can be seen on the streets.
Rourke scores a final and
stunning touch at the end of the performance. Coriolanus is stabbed and hanged
by his feet. Aufidius stands underneath the bleeding corpse and the blood
spills on his face. The two war lords are joined
together inextricably.
Coriolanus by William Shakespeare was shown at the Cineplex Cinemas Yong-Dundas, 10 Dundas St. East, Toronto ON and other theatres on January 30 2014. For more
information visit: http://www.cineplex.com/
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