CT: Coriolanus

Happy Friday readers! I'm continuing our theme of Shakespeare Appreciation Week here on the blog. I'm so excited because I get to talk about the show that started Little C and I off on our Shakespeare nerd-out, Coriolanus. 

So I've never seen Coriolanus performed before, and it's actually one of the few Shakespeare plays I've never even read. It was a really rare experience, to see a brand new bit of Shakespeare. I knew the basic plot, but for everything else I was going in totally blind. And let me tell you, that was a hell of a treat because this is a beautiful play. It's violent and difficult and complicated in the way that Shakespeare does best, and having my first experience with it be seeing an incredible performance was absolutely thrilling. 

The production we were watching was done at the Donmar Warehouse in London last year. They filmed the performance (with the audience, which I really loved), but it never felt like we were just watching it on stage. They really captured the action and gave us a glimpse into the performances that we would have missed if we'd been there live. I have to say that the production was fantastic. It was minimalistic as far as sets or scenery go, which really let the performances shine. I wasn't so distracted by the huge Roman structures they would have had to create, so I got to focus on the drama. Perfect. 

All that minimalism could have been disastrous in other hands, but the performances were outstanding across the board. I've always loved theater, and Coriolanus was a good reminder of the joy of watching amazing actors do their thing. They built moments into the play that took my breath away, literally. Tom Hiddleston is so well-respected that it's easy to forget just how good he really is. But he was absolutely captivating. He rode the edge of the character's hardness and his tenderness beautifully throughout- it made the tragedy of Coriolanus' story into something visceral. 

The rest of the cast was just as good. Mark Gatiss, Birgitte Hjort Sorenson, and Deborah Findlay were absolutely fantastic as the people who love Coriolanus and are caught up in his tragedy alongside him. In particular, Deborah Findlay blew me away. She plays his mother, a woman who wants nothing more than a son who's glorified in battle. So when she breaks down at the end and is begging him to see mercy, I was speechless and eventually sobbing. She was wonderful to watch. 

Ok so here's the real thing that I walked away with, and that I've been excited about since the screening- the writing was ridiculous. I know, I know, it's Shakespeare. Of course it's good. But I feel like in the midst of all those classic plays that you see over and over, it's easy to cast Shakespeare into a pile marked "Classics" and not think about it too much. But over and over as we watched, all I could think was how beautifully built this story is. How amazing the lines fit together to put tha audience right into the characters' minds. How desperate I felt for all of them by the end. And how rare it is to feel like that watching anything, from TV to film to theater. 

Cait and I have come a long way in our writing in the past two years, but it's so good to see what kind of storytelling is possible. I've walked around all week excited to write, excited to build our characters and their world and their stories. That's the best thing that happens when you see great art; it pushes you to make your own. 

If you get the chance, definitely watch Coriolanus. It's amazing. 

Have a great weekend!

CT