Coriolanus

He he he – he said anus

By the way whatever did happen to Beavis and Butthead?

Anyway down to the matter at hand, which is, in the first instance, how to dress properly for the theatre. These people have the right idea (behind the lady with the fat arse):

He – in crisp shirt and smart blazer. She - in kimono, full obi sash, white ankle socks, and delicate slippers.

Obviously he could equally be sensible attired in kimono, sash etc.

Ah yes I was at the Barbican (along with many ladies of the Japanese diaspora, the majority of whom were splendidly turned out in extremely expensive designer clothing) for The Ninagawa Company’s production of Coriolanus. Three and a half hours of a Shakespeare play I am not familiar with, in Japanese, with (very fast) English surtitles (well strictly speaking side titles (note to self: must stop using so many brackets)). Bliss

As one would expect the stage was spectacular, dominated by monumental stone steps with a series of sliding screens at the top. Behind the shimmering metallic curtain lay…another curtain, which was mirrored, reflecting the audience back upon itself, and which would turn see-through depending on the lighting.

all the world's a stage - taken at half time
The play, set in Rome, was staged as a Samurai drama, which worked really well, not just because of the several battle scenes (which used most of the 40 plus cast with some great sword fighting action) but also because Coriolanus’ fatal flaw is his holding himself to an unrealistic idea of “nobility” (those Samurai were nothing if not beholden to codes of conduct).

In many ways this was a straight telling of the story; the costumes and stage-set worked with rather than re-wrote the original. Whether it was because I had to watch the play with one and a half eyes on the side titles, or, as I suspect, was much to do with the nature of the play, I couldn’t get that emotionally involved with the drama.

Coriolanus is a man who loves his mum, superbly played by Kayoko Shiraishi who stole the show in the climactic finale as she begs Coriolanus to desist from destroying Rome. Her acting was full of the precision and nuances of Noh theatre, with deliberate positioning of head, neck, hand and body.

Other highlights included a couple of excellent horses – initially so lifelike that I thought they were real, and the scene where Menenius, snubbed by Coriolanus, covers himself in his black cloak and slides down the stairs, as liquid as any of the spirits in Spirited Away.

All that was left was for the tumultuous final fight to the death, and a spectacular spray of blood as gory as any manga, and everyone toddled off to the tube happy.