Review: 'Coriolanus' in Griffith Park: Indie Shakes conscripts Shakespeare's haughty warrior
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Set us as preferred “Coriolanus” has never been one of Shakespeare’s more popular tragedies.And for understandable reasons, it’s never been a favorite of outdoor festivals either.
The title character disdains the common folk, and the play’s complicated political discussion and harsh, jagged poetry aren’t what most picnicking playgoers are after.It’s hard to love “Coriolanus,” but it’s equally hard not to be impressed by its ambition, originality and dramatic rigor.
The Independent Shakespeare Co.’s Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival production isn’t going to win awards for subtlety, but the storytelling is crisp and vivid.And even those unfamiliar with the tale — the vast majority of attendees, in all likelihood — should find it engrossing.Coriolanus is a military hero of the early Roman Republic.
The city-state’s all-powerful defender, he is unmatched on the battlefield.But in peacetime, he’s a fish out of water.
He lives by a warrior code that defines nobility by bravery and sacrifice in action.He’d rather silently wear his wounds earned in the line of duty than exploit them for political ends.
Up in arms about the way the government has been controlling the food supply, the common folk are eager to test their newfound democratic power.Tribunals have been appointed, and Coriolanus’ scornful elitism strikes them as too heavy a price for his military protection.
The Republic is thus at loggerheads with itself.And Coriolanus, raised to destroy Rome’s enemies by a mother who would rather her son be a dead hero than a bon vivant, is caught in the middle of the only war he has no interest in fighting and isn’t favored to win.
Indie Shakes managing director David Melville distills his production around scenes of intense conflict.The characters are all in a continual state of colli...