Coriolanus (2014)

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Like the Frankenstein double-feature that kicked off the new blog, Coriolanus came to cinemas through National Theatre Live.  The production was actually played at an entirely different theatre than the National, but I’m certainly not going to complain.  Coriolanus is a cracking play, and this production is a fine one.

 

The play in question is a Shakespeare tragedy, one that was almost entirely unknown to me before hearing of this live-in-cinema event (I mainly knew it for the line, “If she thinks your behavior is heinous / Kick her right in the Coriolanus,” from Kiss Me, Kate’s “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.”)  It’s named for a fierce Roman soldier who loves diving headlong into battle to defend his country, who has collected honors and trophies throughout his military career.  Despite this, though, he doesn’t have the love of the Roman people; he’s brusque and hot-tempered, and he vehemently refuses to flatter anyone’s ego.  When he angles for the position of consul, this uneasy relationship comes to a head in a big way.  It’s an interesting, thoughtful story about someone’s merit being determined, not by their accomplishments, but by their popularity.

 

Directed by Josie Rourke, the production is sparse but powerful.  The minimal staging sets up the scenes effectively, and the actors wear simple modern (or at least modern-ish) dress adorned with Roman embellishments.  With the audience hugging the edges of the tiny thrust stage, there is a palpable, visceral immediacy to the piece.  Nothing detracts from the work of the actors.

 

If you’ve heard anything about this production, then you know that the heavy-hitter to discuss is Tom Hiddleston in the title role.  I’ve enjoyed Hiddleston’s work with Shakespeare since I heard him as Cassio in an audio recording of Othello (young Obi-Wan Kenobi, Serenity’s Operative, Loki, and Catelyn Stark doing Shakespeare together – talk about a nerd’s dream come true.)  He has a knack (dare I call it Branagh-esque?) for making Shakespearean dialogue sound natural and lived-in on his tongue.  When he’s performing something by the Bard, I could easily believe that he talks that way on a daily basis.

 

Beyond the general praise, he’s simply outstanding in the role.  Coriolanus is a different sort of role for him, brash and edgy, and he handles it masterfully.  Whether he’s giving his men a rousing call to arms, scarcely biting back his contempt for the ole plebs, or grappling with a tremendous personal dilemma, his performance steers the show with force.

 

Other noteworthy performances include Sherlock’s own Mark Gatiss, also playing against type as an easy-going senator, Hadley Fraser as a rival general (I wasn’t familiar with him, but IMDb tells me that he got killed by a Cyberman in the series 2 finale of Doctor Who,) and Deborah Findlay as Coriolanus’s mother (yay for State of Play alumni!)  Additional fun fact – one of Coriolanus’s brothers-in-arms is played by Alfred Enoch (Harry Potter’s Dean Thomas, more recently a doomed palace guard on Sherlock.)

 

Warnings

 

Lots of stage violence, including bloodiness aplenty.