Shakespeare’s last tragedy, the most political of all his plays, was written in 1607, a time of rioting and civil unrest in England. It has rarely been popular with the general theatregoer and usually works best in times of national strife when Left and Right find they can use its political arguments for their own ends. The action is set in 490BC before Rome was great and when she was still fighting the Volscians. Caius Martius wins a great victory at Corioli and is given the name of Coriolanus. It was traditional for a warrior hero to appear before the people in sackcloth and ashes and display his wounds. Coriolanus knows his value to Rome and has an absolute contempt for the common people which, fatally, he does not attempt to disguise. The idea of humbling himself in the market place is anathema to him.
Coriolanus, proud and arrogant, is singularly unlikable. Tom Hiddleston, good-looking and tall, comes across as the most likeable person on stage. He has three notable physical moments. The first is when he goes off to fight the Volscians, climbing a ladder which reaches high into the flies, a symbol of his ambition for military glory. The second is when he strips to take an on-stage shower and reveals a body covered in the wounds he received in battle. The third is when he is strung up, Mussolini-fashion, upside down to be killed, his blood literally dripping into General Aufidius’s mouth.
The most famous pause in all Shakespeare comes when Volumnia, Coriolanus’s formidable mother, goes down on her knees to beg her son not to sack Rome. He finally acquiesces, knowing he is signing his death warrant. Sarah Siddons scored one of her greatest successes as Volumnia, the archetypical Roman matron, played here by Deborah Findlay.
The cast in Josie Rourke’s production sits in a line along the back wall, which is covered in graffiti. Birgitte Hjort Sorensen, the Danish actress, best known to British audiences from TV in Borgen, is wasted as Virgilia, Coriolanus’s wife, who has little to say and do. Mark Gattis, a humorous lightweight Menenius, and Elliot Levey, a shifty tribune, have far more opportunities to make an impact and take them. You can catch Coriolanus on January 30 live on screen.