[/style> I wonder if this is getting to be a theme, last night in town, hit one more live performance?
Jonathan Cake (?), about whom I know nothing, stars as Coriolanus. Tough role, great job. Perhaps not the best, but o damn fine performance. Seen him twice., Second time was better, and not just for better seats.
It was all about being prepared. There’s also some of those serious lines that have a comical punch, perhaps a visual clue – like an actor makes a face at the opponent, or a gesture. At one point, Coriolanus does the Elizabethan equivalent of flipping the plebeians off.
There was something the second time, too, the fat guy in front, crowding space, the guy behind, belching loudly, the smell of stale wine, a fairly authentic Elizabethan Theatre experience. Which, in part, was what it was all about. I’d “borrowed” Pa Wetzel’s copy of the play, and I was intent upon reading it, but between everything else, I never got a chance. There are some choice bits that I’ve plucked to use, and the second viewing of a performance by such an energetic cast was good.
To be sure, the play can easily be spun in two, rather divergent, manners, either it’s all good for the state, or absolute tyrants usually get it in the end.
Laeti edimus qui nos subigant!
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