This is a complex play about politics and soldiers, never an easy mix. This is a rarely performed play and I found the dialogue hard to follow in the first half. Either the diction wasn't as good as it should have been, or I'm going a bit deaf. Fortunately it did improve as the play went on.
I found this modern dress version worked quite well, although I became a little tired of the comparison of the costumes between the hierarchy and the mob.
The set was very good as was the lighting and music. Like Julius Caesar, I found Andrew Jackson's direction to be clunky and rushed. As if trying to get the whole play into three hours including the interval. It was so much better in the quieter slower moments.
I found the casting of Sope Dirisu as Coriolanus strange to start with, but that didn't last long. His muscular performance is suited to soldier who is unable to make the transition to politician. Better still was Haydn Gwynne as his mother Volumnia. Her delivery was first rate in comparison to the men.
The biggest drawback for me was that I still had the movie directed and starring Ralph Fiennes in my head. For me, the location filming suited this play so much more than the confines of the theatre. When a mob is represented by a dozen or so, you have to suspend belief. The movie also benefited from the adapting of the play by John Logan who sharply cut the text, removing the obscurer passages but retaining its lucidity and eloquence and providing a sharp, graphic narrative.
Last night, I did find more subtlety in the plot, and more emotion than the film. I guess they were both so different. And Ralph Fiennes suited the role so well.
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