August 2012
In the Vale of Glamorgan
Coriolan/us
From SHAKESPEARE and BRECHT
Directed by MIKE PEARSON and MIKE BROOKES
From the team that created our startling version of Aeschylus’s The Persians on the military training ranges of mid-Wales, the story of Caius Martius – Coriolanus – is re-imagined in the era of 24-hour news, of celebrity culture, and of a new global politics.
In association with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival, which was produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company for London 2012 Festival.
About the Production
Directors Mike Pearson and Mike Brookes, who also created The Persians, reunited to retell Shakespeare’s story of Caius Martius - Coriolanus - in the era of 24-hour news, celebrity culture and a new global politics.
The production took place in Hangar 858, a disused World War II aircraft hangar at RAF St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan. Audience members heard the speech and sounds through headphones using silent disco technology, and were free to move around the space. Two large screens in the centre of the space also showed action filmed from within the crowds and from above.
****
a piece full of technical surprises
****
un o’r profiadau theatrig mwyaf anhygoel dwi erioed wedi profi
gripping
a production that brilliantly conveys the confusion, unpredictability and opportunism of civil strife
***
exhilarating
****
spectacularly immersive
It is the immediacy of the events that grabs you
****
an outstanding production that makes several big points about the theatre today
an unforgettable political and personal drama: rich, tough and resonant
another tremendous feat
The speaking is so uniformly excellent – so intent, so spittingly clear, so totally natural – that it would be not only wrong but actually impossible to pick out one actor to blazon above another.
Cast
BRENDAN CHARLESTON
Titus Lartius
JONNY GLYNN
Cominius
NIA GWYNNE
Sicinius
RICHARD HARRINGTON
Tullus Aufidius
CHRIS JARED
Brutus
RICHARD LYNCH
Coriolanus
RHIAN MORGAN
Volumnia
JOHN ROWLEY
First Citizen
MATTHEW THOMAS
Menenius
GERALD TYLER
Second Citizen
BETHAN WITCOMB
Virgillia
SAM JONES C.D.G.
Casting Director
LUCY TAYLOR
Casting Assistant
