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| Tom Hiddleston gets serious as Shakespeare's military man ... |
Bethy and I went to see a live screening of the Donmar Warehouse production at our local arty cinema and theatre The Dukes and we were pleasantly surprised. As Beth has pointed put to me it was obviously going to be good "because Hiddles". With that in mind, we went in with no real expectations about how successful the play would be as entertainment as well as a piece of classic drama, but as Coriolanus rookies we quickly found this less popular Shakespeare play surprisingly enjoyable.
For the uninitiated, Coriolanus centres on the proud military man Caius Martius, given the nickname (or agnomen, to be fancy) after fighting off the Volscians from attacking Rome. Aufudius, head of the Volscian bad guys, has a one on one fight with Coriolanus, who only stops after he is dragged away by the other men (cue a strapping Hiddleston fighting a wonderfully northern Hadley Fraser, "a man with a beard as thick as his Leeds accent"- Beth Knight everybody). Following his success, Coriolanus' pushy mother Volumnia (played by the excellent Deborah Findlay) tries to convince him to run for consul and he hesitantly agrees. At first, he seems to have won over the plebians, (commoners of the city) as well as the Senate, but his opponents Brutus and Sicinius look to bring about his downfall...
First things first, Hiddleston's portrayal of Coriolanus has understandably been hyped, with his strong athletic presence during some riveting fight scenes and a strong sense of hidden vulnerability under the arrogant exterior that he puts across so well. At times when Coriolanus does rage and rant about his open disgust towards the plebiscites and their lack of military service, it can be hard not to let his proto-fascist ideals go over your head as you wait for the plot to move along. To lighten the mood of the play are Elliot Levey and Helen Schlesinger who play the scheming duo Brutus and Sicinius, adding some light to this heavily shaded play, deliver their lines with comedy and depth, giving the audience some laughs in and amongst the proud and serious soliloquys. Adding emotional gravitas to a tense scene of reasoning with the enraged Coriolanus as well as adding some comedy of his own is the seemingly ever present Mark Gatiss, taking time out from being the British government to play the decidedly less successful politician Menenius.
The brutal bloodiness of the play is further emphasised by the sparse nature of the scenery, taking the production away from a literal representation of Rome to a space removed from any real clear historical time period and bringing the events closer to the audience due to the intimacy of the small stage, which even seen on a screen miles away from the actors succeeds in creating a feeling of claustrophobia. Whilst the commentary given by Bella Freud and the director Josie Rourke before the play and during the intermission was at times interesting and also included insightful segments from the actors, their comments regarding the "intellectual space" of the Donmar Warehouse theatre prompted the apt response from a fellow viewer of "what does that even mean"? That, coupled with their ponderous chat over why this particular production is so well received when Loki and Mycroft are in your cast caused us to turn to each other and say "Two words. Tom. Hiddleston" and many eyes were rolling.
Overall, the play, whilst lagging in the first half, comes to a great and exciting conclusion. Not for the faint of heart, this bloody and violent play is entertainment, but not as we know it.
For the uninitiated, Coriolanus centres on the proud military man Caius Martius, given the nickname (or agnomen, to be fancy) after fighting off the Volscians from attacking Rome. Aufudius, head of the Volscian bad guys, has a one on one fight with Coriolanus, who only stops after he is dragged away by the other men (cue a strapping Hiddleston fighting a wonderfully northern Hadley Fraser, "a man with a beard as thick as his Leeds accent"- Beth Knight everybody). Following his success, Coriolanus' pushy mother Volumnia (played by the excellent Deborah Findlay) tries to convince him to run for consul and he hesitantly agrees. At first, he seems to have won over the plebians, (commoners of the city) as well as the Senate, but his opponents Brutus and Sicinius look to bring about his downfall...
First things first, Hiddleston's portrayal of Coriolanus has understandably been hyped, with his strong athletic presence during some riveting fight scenes and a strong sense of hidden vulnerability under the arrogant exterior that he puts across so well. At times when Coriolanus does rage and rant about his open disgust towards the plebiscites and their lack of military service, it can be hard not to let his proto-fascist ideals go over your head as you wait for the plot to move along. To lighten the mood of the play are Elliot Levey and Helen Schlesinger who play the scheming duo Brutus and Sicinius, adding some light to this heavily shaded play, deliver their lines with comedy and depth, giving the audience some laughs in and amongst the proud and serious soliloquys. Adding emotional gravitas to a tense scene of reasoning with the enraged Coriolanus as well as adding some comedy of his own is the seemingly ever present Mark Gatiss, taking time out from being the British government to play the decidedly less successful politician Menenius.
The brutal bloodiness of the play is further emphasised by the sparse nature of the scenery, taking the production away from a literal representation of Rome to a space removed from any real clear historical time period and bringing the events closer to the audience due to the intimacy of the small stage, which even seen on a screen miles away from the actors succeeds in creating a feeling of claustrophobia. Whilst the commentary given by Bella Freud and the director Josie Rourke before the play and during the intermission was at times interesting and also included insightful segments from the actors, their comments regarding the "intellectual space" of the Donmar Warehouse theatre prompted the apt response from a fellow viewer of "what does that even mean"? That, coupled with their ponderous chat over why this particular production is so well received when Loki and Mycroft are in your cast caused us to turn to each other and say "Two words. Tom. Hiddleston" and many eyes were rolling.
Overall, the play, whilst lagging in the first half, comes to a great and exciting conclusion. Not for the faint of heart, this bloody and violent play is entertainment, but not as we know it.
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