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Coriolanus

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

Completing its season presenting the four major Roman plays of Shakespeare, this is a Coriolanus that is both emotionally engaging and thought provoking.  Set in contemporary times in a design by Robert Innes Hopkins that echoes the designs of the other plays, the point about the politics puts one firmly in mind of the current shenanigans and dysfunctions of governments and plebiscites all over the world. The tribunes of the people are women, strongly played by Jackie Morrison and Martina Laird and, given the contemporary setting, make complete sense of their roles. The ambiguities of the motivations of tribunes and senators, the rivalries and dysfunctions, the class wars, are calmly, coolly presented. But the real crux of the play in this production seemed to me to be the personal relationships circling around the figure of Caius Martius, called Coriolanus, who is played with scary, cold dignity by Sope Dirisu. His character comes across as a typical general, somewhat autistic in terms of human emotion, brilliant at being a soldier but clearly without the capacity to engage in the kinds of smooth diplomacy and ingratiating communication needed by a politician. The admiration for his achievements by his own class, especially by Paul Jesson as Menenius, his mentor and promoter, is clearly conveyed. And when Coriolanus, feeling cold fury at being betrayed by the plebians, turns to James Corrigan’s Tullus Aufidiuss to join with him in revenge upon Rome, the sense of the almost erotic love that Aufidius has for Coriolanus and also the strong bond between the two former enemies, is almost palpable.

But the crucial moment comes when Haydn Gwynne as his mother, Volumnia, brings the wife of Coriolanus, Virgilia, and his child, the young Martius, to plead with Coriolanus to spare Rome. Hannah Morrish, as Virgilia, is a touching suppliant. It is Haydn Gwynne who is one of the central and most memorable characters in this play, a proud noble woman when she first appears, an almost unnaturally close mother as the story progresses, sometimes viperfish, always ambitious, full of a sense of entitlement, and finally a haggard, terrified emotional blackmailer torn between her overweening love for her son in whom she has taken such pride and her desperation about what he is about to do to Rome itself. It is a stunning and very moving assumption of a classic role.

Angus Jackson’s thoughtful production is beautifully considered and centrally focused on the emotional interplay of the various characters that is the heart of this story, their prejudices, hubris and limitations informing the action throughout and especially the unfolding of the tragedy of the proud, blinkered Coriolanus himself.

Coriolanus is playing in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon until 14 Ocober 2017 and then at the Barbican Theatre from 6 until 18 November where it will kick off the transfer of the Roman plays by Shakespeare to London.

  • Drama
  • By William Shakespeare
  • Director: Angus Jackson
  • Producer: Royal Shakespeare Company
  • Cast Includes: Sope Dirisu, Haydn Gwynne, Hannah Morrish, Paul Jesson, Jackie Morrison, Martina Laird, James Corrigan, Charles Aitken
  • Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
  • Theatre until 14 October 2017 and then transferring to the Barbican, London from 6 to18 November 2017
  • Review by Mel Cooper
  • 9 October 2017

About The Author

Reviewer (UK)

Canadian-born Mel Cooper first came to the UK to study English Literature at Oxford University and stayed. He was captivated by the culture and history of Britain, which he found to be a welcoming and tolerant country. After working in highly illustrated, non-fiction publishing for over a decade, he founded and edited the magazine Opera Now. Since then he has worked as a consultant to the Japanese broadcaster NHK, a broadcaster on British Satellite Broadcasting, a maker of audio shows and arts critic for several airlines, and as one of the team that started Britain’s first commercial classical music radio station, Classic FM, on which he was both a classical music DJ and creator and presenter of shows like Classic America and Authentic Performance. Throughout this period, he also lectured in music and literature in London and Oxford and published short stories in Canada. After working with the Genesis Foundation on helping to fund arts projects, he continues to write, review and lecture on music and literature. His first novel has just been published as an e-book. The title is City of Dreams. It is the first volume of a projected saga called The Dream Bearers. You can find the Kindle version of the book on Amazon.

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