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| production photo by Ian Flanders |
The space has multiple levels and this production makes
great use of them all. As for set pieces, there is a bust on a pedestal up left
to help signify Rome, and a purple flag down right to signify Corioli, and not
much else. Not much else is needed. The company does all the work here, and the
action moves swiftly. As the play opens, citizens enter from various spots,
including behind the audience, giving us the feel of being in the middle of the
uprising. In this production, Menenius Agrippa is female, played by Melora
Marshall, who gives one of the strongest performances. (Marshall also
co-directed the play with Ellen Geer.) I love, for example, the mirth with
which she delivers the line “You, the
great toe of this assembly.” She seems to not only truly inhabit the world
of the play, but to thrive there, and it is a joy to watch her. She is
particularly good in the first scene of Act II, when she speaks with the
tribunes. There is a spot just to the right of the audience where Menenius
delivers her first speeches, and it is there too that Coriolanus (David De
Santos), known still as Caius Martius, delivers his first speech. Then, after
he’s moved to the center of stage, when he refers to citizens as “rats,” several of them are huddled in
front of the stage, beneath him, like rats in gutters. The staging of the play
gives us many meaningful arrangements like that. (I also appreciate that when
Coriolanus later enters in the gown of humility, he stands in the same spot
where he first spoke, which shows that his attitude has not really changed.)
When we first meet Volumnia (Ellen Geer), she enters
above stage left, with her daughter-in-law Virgilia (Michelle Wicklas) entering
below her, another meaningful bit of staging. Ellen Geer gives another of the
production’s best performances. In the line about Caius being likely to find
fame, she stresses the word “fame,”
while Virgilia is below her, distraught. Volumnia takes joy in talking about
war, and even engages the child in a bit of mock battle. And later I love the
dialogue between her and Menenius about the wounds, the ridiculous glory of
being hurt, but not hurt too much. By the way, below that dialogue we hear the
sound of marching feet like a heartbeat. After Caius enters, Volumnia’s delivery
of the line “But O! thy wife” is
perfect, showing that Volumnia believes herself to be the most important woman
in her son’s life, as the earlier staging also showed. Also, in that scene, some
people are crouched in front of the stage, and Volumnia acknowledges them below
her, reminding us of her son doing the same thing earlier, showing us where
Coriolanus likely obtained his own attitude and demeanor.
The battles are also staged well, the large company using
the entire stage, with a lot going on simultaneously. I particularly like the
use of an actual ladder when the Romans first attempt to take Corioli, after
the line “Ladders, ho!” That ladder
is then pushed down, with someone on it, which is impressive. The ladder is put
to good use during the rest of the battle too. And we do get a chance to
witness Coriolanus’ bravery in battle, as well as something of his bloody
nature. He seems not only furious, but desperate to fight Aufidius (Max
Lawrence). And when he suddenly is surrounded, so are we in the audience, a
nice touch. The battle between Coriolanus and Aufidius, in contrast, is just
the two of them, so our focus is narrowed. There is a wonderful moment
afterward when Aufidius falls, then defiantly stands, then falls again, and is
helped up. You really feel for Aufidius in that moment, and may even want to help him
rise.
I love that the tribunes take center stage as they lure
the people’s hearts away from Coriolanus. The tribunes are surrounded by the
common people, and it’s as easy to get them to side against Coriolanus as it
was to get them to side with him earlier. It’s interesting because the parallel
between the tribunes and Coriolanus is strong, and the voices of the people are
so easily and cheaply bought and re-bought. It’s difficult to keep from thinking
of the citizens of our own country now, and how certain factions are almost
eager to be told what to think and how to vote. When it is said that Coriolanus
will be banished, Coriolanus ascends the stairs up left, with Menenius between
him and the people. And when he finally explodes, shouting “I banish you” to the people, Coriolanus
is once again above them. It is interesting that he deliberately ascends
for those lines, as if he wants to feel above them even though in a way he is
at his most powerless here, and his cry of “I
banish you” is rather impotent and toothless. Yet, we understand his
perspective. Being called a traitor by those goaded to do so would be
infuriating to one who had done such service to his country. And David De
Santos does an excellent job here. I also like that after that we finally get a
moment of affection between him and his wife. Then later when Volumnia says “And then I’ll speak a little,” she
notices that Coriolanus is in tears below her (in the very place where the “rats”
once were, another nice touch), and we see love between mother and son, as she
comforts him in his need for her.
Coriolanus was
directed by Ellen Geer and Melora Marshall. There is one fifteen-minute
intermission coming at the end of Act II, and the performance lasts approximately
two hours and fifteen minutes (including intermission). The production is done
in period costume, designed by Robert Merkel. The play runs only through
September 23rd, so get your tickets soon. Visit the Will Geer’s Theatricum
Botanicum website for the full schedule. By the way, in 2010 I began seeing as
many Shakespeare productions as possible, with the hope of seeing all
thirty-seven plays (no, I’m not counting The
Two Noble Kinsmen). Coriolanus
was number twenty-seven for me.
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