"If she says your behaviour is heinous
Kick her right in the Coriolanus"
'Brush Up Your Shakespeare' - Cole Porter
I am quite surprised that this play and it's story was previously unknown to me. Coriolanus is a strong character and worthy anti-hero who could easily stand shoulder to shoulder with Hamlet and Macbeth. Maybe it’s the size of the cast that puts people off producing it, as the crowds of citizens and battles must either need an extensive cast or some very imaginative staging. The citizens, soldiers, senators and ‘voices’ put me more in mind of a play from ancient Greece that Shakespeare. But then I know little of any of the Bard’s Roman plays so it may be the style for them all.
It took some reading to understand the politics of the Rome; tribunes, consuls, senators and the like. Saying that, I loved watching West Wing and never understood a word they were saying either. Also, not knowing anything of the plot I was more on the edge of my seat than I have been for a long time reading Shakespeare. Coriolanus' switch of allegiance and march on Roman had we wondering and fearful of what the outcome would be. And the final 'twist' came so fast at the end that I didn't see it coming at all.There is conveniently a film just out staring 'he must not be named' (unless it's to call him Ralph Fiennes) as the 'bloody' general Coriolanus. I haven't seen it myself but then trying to watch all the Shakespeare dramatisations, adaptations and 'films inspired by' are a challenge in themselves. Also, as with any good book, I would rather read the text first or, in the case of plays, experience it first unabridged before seeing it partially played on a screen.
Final thoughts – I'm not sure that loitering in market places, wearing cheap clothing and offering to show people your 'wounds' is any way for a politician to behave. But then again...
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