Action is eloquence
Early days, as it was only second preview, but the new Coriolanus at the Donmar http://www.donmarwarehouse.com/whats-on/donmar-warehouse/2013/coriolanus is surely a winner. Fast paced and furious (for a fuller version see the Ralph Fiennes film), initially it is hard to keep up with the speedy delivery of Shakespearean language and the clatter and clamour of swift scene change. Ears become attuned, but eyes from the moment of his first appearance are affixed upon the main attraction. Tom Hiddleston does not disappoint in any way in the close atmosphere of this intimate theatre. In a vigorous physical performance on the starkest of stages - a backdrop of a graffitied brick wall and a ladder leading up into the gantries, all being nuanced by use of hard-backed chairs and addition of paint to stage floor and wall - the lead actor is mesmerising throughout, even when inactive. And, without going into the details of the plot, convinces that he is a hardened leader of fighting men, a battle-scarred war hero who scorns the masses and will not play the expected political game. This inability to temper opinion turns those who hail him to recoil from the reality of the man, and he in turn to seek to humble them by allying with his own former enemy.
The resolution is bloody despite peace ultimately agreed. In fact the whole production is very messy in the best possible way. The paint has already been mentioned, but all sorts is flung upon the actors and set alike throughout the first act especially to the extent that the stage floor has to be swept and scrubbed at the interval. Highlight at one point when the battle soiled soldier semi-strips and sluices himself down in from overhead shower pouring from above the centre of the stage... (muffled sighs from the audience) and a brutally enduring image of his inert inverted form hanging by the feet over almost exactly the same spot at the end.
A strong supporting cast is necessary and fortunately provided. Personal favourites were Deborah Findlay as Volumnia the chilling mother of Coriolanus, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as the poised but powerless wife, and Alfred Enoch as one of Coriolanus's most faithful generals. Mark Gatiss was the fatherly elder statesman Menenius, voice of reason amid the mob.
The production will get even stronger and tighter with repeated performance - and is already getting standing ovations despite a few minor mis-timed lines. Astonishing. Available via NT Live screening at the end of January, I'm seriously tempted to see it again.
Images to follow soon hopefully. So far nothing representative of the true sights to be seen. :-)
P.S. Also seen in the afternoon, revival of Matthew Bourne's famous Swan Lake at Sadler's Wells. Absolutely fabulous from start to finish. I just love those decidedly dangerous male swans. Clip here http://bcove.me/d2p5sdc2
The resolution is bloody despite peace ultimately agreed. In fact the whole production is very messy in the best possible way. The paint has already been mentioned, but all sorts is flung upon the actors and set alike throughout the first act especially to the extent that the stage floor has to be swept and scrubbed at the interval. Highlight at one point when the battle soiled soldier semi-strips and sluices himself down in from overhead shower pouring from above the centre of the stage... (muffled sighs from the audience) and a brutally enduring image of his inert inverted form hanging by the feet over almost exactly the same spot at the end.
A strong supporting cast is necessary and fortunately provided. Personal favourites were Deborah Findlay as Volumnia the chilling mother of Coriolanus, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as the poised but powerless wife, and Alfred Enoch as one of Coriolanus's most faithful generals. Mark Gatiss was the fatherly elder statesman Menenius, voice of reason amid the mob.
The production will get even stronger and tighter with repeated performance - and is already getting standing ovations despite a few minor mis-timed lines. Astonishing. Available via NT Live screening at the end of January, I'm seriously tempted to see it again.
Images to follow soon hopefully. So far nothing representative of the true sights to be seen. :-)
P.S. Also seen in the afternoon, revival of Matthew Bourne's famous Swan Lake at Sadler's Wells. Absolutely fabulous from start to finish. I just love those decidedly dangerous male swans. Clip here http://bcove.me/d2p5sdc2