Coriolanus, Donmar Warehouse - theatre review

Tom Hiddleston delivers a compelling performance as the violent and treacherous Roman general, focusing on his arrogance and elusive coolness
Impulsive loner: Tom Hiddleston as Coriolanus (Picture: Johan Persson)
Henry Hitchings17 November 2014

Tom Hiddleston returns to the London stage with a compelling performance. The violent and treacherous Roman general Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare’s most bloodthirsty creations, but Hiddleston focuses on his arrogance and elusive coolness.

He does an impressive job of suggesting the emotional inadequacy of this self-deluding, impulsive loner – as well as the strange complexity of his motives. And when Coriolanus strips, he looks like a man who has spent plenty of time in the gym rather than one who has been seasoned by gory battles.

Josie Rourke’s production is lucid, lean and finely controlled. In the busy first half there’s abrasive music, and as the ordinary Romans crave more grain during a time of famine their outrage is expressed in torrents of both noise and graffiti. There are also moments of bruising physicality – as when Coriolanus and his enemy Aufidius (Hadley Fraser) exchange blows. Yet mostly this is a play about arguments and rhetoric; the word ‘power’ recurs with arresting frequency.

There are crisp performances throughout. Mark Gatiss has the right mix of candour and smoothness as the senator Menenius, who is in effect Coriolanus’s surrogate father. Elliot Levey captures the self-satisfied tone of scheming ‘tribune of the people’ Brutus, alongside Helen Schlesinger as Sicinia (who’s usually a male character called Sicinius); together they suggest the slipperiness of the political class.

Birgitte Hjort Sørensen from Borgen nicely conveys the graciously silent manner of Coriolanus’s wife Virgilia, and Deborah Findlay is memorably ardent as his mother Volumnia, who educates him in the art of flattery.

A few scenes are underpowered, but this is a tense and thoughtful account of one of Shakespeare’s less admired works. With a stark and highly effective design by Lucy Osborne, it’s an intimate interpretation of a play that tends to be staged on a grand scale. It feels satisfyingly fresh – and will be broadcast to 300 cinemas in the UK on January 30, vastly extending the number of people who will get to see it.

Until February 8 (0844 871 7624, donmarwarehouse.com)

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in