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<\/p>\nRead our review of The Tragedy of Coriolanus off Broadway, a modern revival of Shakespeare’s tragedy directed by Ash K. Tata at Theatre for a New Audience.<\/p>\n
If everyone is on camera all the time, who is watching the footage? Or perhaps, who isn\u2019t? This is the conceit of director Ash K. Tata\u2019s production of The Tragedy of Coriolanus, a less-sexy Shakespearean tragedy that founding artistic director Jeffrey Horowitz chose as his last entry at Brooklyn\u2019s Theatre for a New Audience. The play throws the audience into a class conflict that pits the plebs against the ruling class because the price of grain is too darn high. If Shakespeare\u2019s language isn\u2019t your forte, scenic designer Afsoon Pajoufar\u2019s wheatpaste posters helpfully explain that \u201cPrice of Grain is Too High.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coriolanus takes place in the early Roman Republic, with the people and its government on shaky ground. With characters staring down a power vacuum, facing off against arrogant leaders, and rebelling against the price of food, Coriolanus is ripe for a contemporary retelling. Except that TFANA\u2019s production doesn\u2019t bring the play into the modern world.<\/p>\n
Sure, there are machine guns and video games and constant surveillance footage, but Tata does little to contextualize these tricks and show how power is (or is not) distributed across society. Lisa Renkel and Possible\u2019s projections show every player\u2019s live heatmap throughout the show, occasionally replaying footage during scene transitions but otherwise never compromising on a live feed.<\/p>\n
Surveillance may be something we all experience today, but it is not an equalizer. Protestors, undocumented immigrants, politicians, lobbyists, and college students do not all share in the weaponization of surveillance, cannot all use it to escape arrest or throw it in the face of an alleged wrongdoer. In Tata\u2019s Rome, however, all citizens \u2014 pleb and patrician, soldier and slain \u2014 are watched equally. Nothing is done with the footage. It simply exists, reminding us that Shakespeare\u2019s words have resonance in today\u2019s world in a manner that is both insistent and lacking.<\/p>\n
There is something a little juvenile about this setup, despite the technical prowess of the design team; is it really enough to tell us that something sinister exists without showing us how the state or a tyrant \u2014 as McKinley Belcher III\u2019s excellently controlled Caius Martius Coriolanus is accused of being \u2014 can wield it?<\/p>\n
Though costume designer Avery Reed differentiates the Romans and the rival Volscians in color, few other differences are marked. Both groups use machine guns rather than distinct weapons, and though the plebs look a little more ruffian in dress, their color allegiance is to Rome and its upper echelon. Perhaps this choice undercuts Coriolanus\u2019s fear that the peasants\u2019 loyalty to their country wavers in the wind, but if class struggle is at the heart of the play, this choice seems to betray the motivations of the plebs and their Tribunes.<\/p>\n
There are no weak links in the cast, though. Roslyn Ruff\u2019s understated power as Volumnia and Jason O\u2019Connell\u2019s heartbreaking valor as Menenius Agrippa balance the searching pain and sacrifice of Belcher\u2019s title soldier. All too often with Shakespeare, however, the attraction is the lasting power of the unfaltering text. The story and the actors delivering it are reason enough to see this lesser-produced tragedy, but the rest of its trappings amount to spectacle.<\/p>\n
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The Tragedy of Coriolanus summary<\/p>\n
In the volatile early Roman Republic, Caius Martius finds success and acclaim as a solider despite economic, social, and agricultural uncertainty. After a victory in the city of Corioli, the newly-named Coriolanus must ask the people to vote for him for Roman Consul. Coriolanus believes his military status should exempt him from campaigning, but his refusal leads the people to banish him from Rome.<\/p>\n
Coriolanus then seeks refuge with his enemy, the general Tullus Aufidius, and they plot to overthrow Rome together. Coriolanus\u2019s mother Volumnia and his wife Virgilia beg him to reconsider, but betraying Aufidius\u2019s trust comes at a high price.<\/p>\n
What to expect at The Tragedy of Coriolanus<\/p>\n
The Tragedy of Coriolanus runs 2 hours and 45 minutes, including a fifteen-minute intermission. The stage is set up in three-quarter thrust style, with much of the action taking place downstage; audience members in rows further back may have trouble seeing some moments. Actors also travel up and the aisles and staircases to the mezzanine. The ensemble regularly congregates behind and around the seats as they form crowds of Roman plebeians.<\/p>\n
TFANA\u2019s production features haze, flashing lights, and stage blood. As with all of Shakespeare\u2019s tragedies, Coriolanus depicts violence and death, with fight choreography by J. David Brimmer. Tata\u2019s production features prop machine guns and accompanying sound effects, with sound design by Brandon Keith Bulls. Lisa Renkel\u2019s and Possible projections also feature scenes of animated violence and profanity.<\/p>\n
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Who should see The Tragedy of Coriolanus<\/p>\n
If you saw Are the Bennet Girls Ok? off Broadway and want more scheming from Zuzanna Szadkowski \u2014 or just loved her as Dorota in Gossip Girl \u2014 you\u2019ll love her take on Junius Brutus.
\nFans of Lincoln Center\u2019s landmark 2022 revival of The Skin of Our Teeth can rejoice at the reunion of actors Ruff, Sarin Monae West, and DeMeritt.
\nShakespeare aficionados can rest assured that director Tata only made light edits to the Bard\u2019s script.<\/p>\n
Learn more about The Tragedy of Coriolanus off Broadway<\/p>\n
The cast of Coriolanus anchors a production that, while visually striking and engaging, has little of its own insights to offer. Belcher delivers a performance whose range of introspection, however, is a masterclass among leading men.<\/p>\n
The Tragedy of Coriolanus is at Theatre for a New Audience through March 1.<\/p>\n
Photo credit: The Tragedy of Coriolanus off Broadway. (Photos by Hollis King)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Read our review of The Tragedy of Coriolanus off Broadway, a modern revival of Shakespeare’s tragedy directed by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":{"0":"post-133728","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-city-news","12":"tag-ny"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}