David Oyelowo in Coriolanus - National Theatre - review
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- David Oyelowo makes a triumphant return to the English stage but is there enough tragedy in the National Theatre production of Shakespeare's Roman tragedy? Paul Seven Lewis reviews Coriolanus directed by Lyndsey Turner and the extraordinary set by Es Devlin.
Coriolanus can be seen at the National Theatre until 9 November 2024.
Paul was given a review ticket by the theatre.
Production photos used in this review are copyright Misan Harriman. The photo used on the thumbnail is by Obidi Nzeribe.
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For a start, I can appreciate why they did this in a modern setting. There are three big scenes in Coriolanus, and the first one, his banishment from Rome, worked so well with the cameras and microphones and David Oyelowo’s face up on the screen twelve feet tall. That was a great moment.
I really enjoyed this production. As I said before, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it on stage, despite loving it at A-Level (it’s amazing how lines of dialogue came back to me as the characters spoke). The set was beautiful, atmospheric and versatile.
Unfortunately I’d read the Spectator review and couldn’t help but smile when the swords went clack instead of clang. They really should have piped in some read sword noises; the battles sounded a little like training exercises. But I said before that this should feel like an action movie and it all moved quickly and the moments of violence worked, sounds aside.
I loved the two scheming tribunes, played by Jordan Metcalfe and Stephanie Street, two very funny performances and two characters I didn’t remember too well from long ago. I wasn’t too sold on Pamela Nomvete as Caius’s mother - she felt a bit petulant rather than the commanding presence that brings down her son. And I thought Aufidius (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) was a bit undercooked. He should be almost the equal of Caius.
But David Oyelowo was terrific as Coriolanus. Mercurial, rousing, violent: the moment when he stormed off up one of the aisles (“I banish you!”) made the audience gasp.
The second big moment in the play is when Volumnia comes to beg for Rome; the third is when Aufidius taunts Coriolanus into boasting about his victories over Corioli. I have to criticise the staging here. I was sitting over on the right of the stalls. For the most part this was okay. But both these scenes happened over on the left. While Volumnia was pleading with her son, I couldn’t see him at all as a light was shining in my eyes; I’m sure there were all sorts of expressions crossing David’s face but they were lost to me. And then that great final scene, as Coriolanus loses his temper at Aufidius’s taunts, again took place over on the left, with Aufidius lost in the glare and Coriolanus with his back to me the whole time. These scenes should have taken place centre stage.
(I confess that I had a particular interest in that final scene, as I wrote an A-Level essay on it, arguing that Coriolanus doesn’t lose his temper at all, but responds to the taunts of Aufidius with humour. That’s the great thing about Shakespeare, you can read it in so many ways. But here he lost his temper, and that’s the obvious way to read it. But I would have loved to see David’s face. Stage it in the centre, don’t shine lights in people’s faces, move the actors round so we can all see such a pivotal moment.)
So all in all, not perfect but there was a great central performance, a beautiful set, some great crowd scenes, excellent special effects.
Four stars.
@@markharris1125 Hi Mark. You obviously enjoyed it a bit more than I did. Thanks for the review. I didn’t enjoy it as much as you, but you put up a good case for four stars. May I add your review at the end of my reviews roundup on my theatre.reviews website?
@@TheatreReviewsWithPaulSeven Oh yes, of course.
I'm going to see this next Saturday afternoon.
I love this play - I studied it for A-Level many many moons ago, so I know (perhaps 'used to know') every twist and turn. But I don't think I've ever seen a professional production, or indeed a production of any kind. Looks like there was a RSC production in Stratford the year I finished, but that was after exams. Maybe theatres didn't take much notice of exam boards in those days, or perhaps not many students took the Roman option.
The 'Roman Option' (good name for a book, going to remember that one) was Antony & Cleopatra and Coriolanus, the other pairing was Macbeth, maybe and King Lear, something like that. But my teacher loved the Roman plays and certainly instilled that love in me. The NT production with Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okenedo a few years ago was just magnificent and now I'm glad we're getting the flutterer of Volscians. (I remember writing a fantastic essay on that scene!)
I know this is in modern dress but I do kind of wish they'd do Roman plays in Roman dress. Is it because it might be hard to distinguish between characters?
Anyway, shall come back to give my opinion next weekend! Thanks for the review, and thanks to David Alexander-Watts for his opinion too. Done right this play should go like an action movie.
Looking forward to hearing what you think of it. I wasn’t alone in my 3 star opinion but it has received plenty of 4 star reviews and got 5 stars from Time Out. The Times awarded 2 stars. The film starring Ralph Fiennes is great.
I'm not clear whether the rating reflects the play more than the production or performances. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it and as you say the delivery of the text by the cast was impeccable. One thing we found is that there was never a dull moment, it's a long play and it fizzed in every scene, it didn't feel long at all, we were engaged with every moment.
The production. I’m sorry I wasn’t clearer. If you choose to present Coriolanus as a soldier who has no interest in democracy or even other people, you lose any sense of him making a decision. In his mind there is no choice. A sense of hubris- that the character has brought his fate upon himself because of decisions he made deliberately- is essential to a good tragedy. At the Donmar, Tom Hiddleston made Coriolanus an arrogant aristocrat, which is one of many possible interpretations. The audience could see he’d brought his fate upon himself by choice. To me, that was why, despite David Oyewolo’s brilliant performance, this production was flat, a situation compounded by making the plebeians and the patriachs so pathetic that you wouldn’t blame Coriolanus even if had made a conscious decision to fight them.
@@TheatreReviewsWithPaulSeven Thank you, that is a very useful insight.
I thought D Oyelowo was incredible, the play’s dialogue set out the thematic ideologies of autocracy versus democracy, republic v people. Words are faster spoken in true pacing, the set was beautiful and is a passive background whilst transforming. Altogether the play is shown through Coriolanus’s physicality, beautiful masculine and alpha male, the opponents seemed weak but a great production.
@@thomasscottwilliams6672 Good points
@@thomasscottwilliams6672 Yes, I agree about his opponents - not the tribunes, I liked them, but Aufidius seemed a bit . . . wet.