Shakespeare in Britain—The Stratford Season

Abstract

.HE directors of Royal Shakespeare Theatre conceived interesting idea of presenting all Roman plays in se-{ Do quence, not in order of their composition but in that of historical moment with which they deal. The aim was to show the birth, achievement, and collapse of a civilisation, and this aim was achieved in sum, though with varying success in detail. Rome was painted, large and unmistakable, on map of Stratford's stage. The season began with Coriolanus, in which action is situated about 490 B.c. between Romans and Volscians just to south of them. This will be tribal warfare, but was there any need, in a production where approach was historical, to turn Aufidius into a variant of Montezuma? The effect was undeniably picturesque-one always knew where one was-but one had a hankering suspicion that one had strayed onto wrong continent. Coriolanus lends itself to very diverse treatment, but consistency is important. A hint. of Etruria would have been more helpful than an abrupt switch to Mexico. Nor could one complain of an obviously Marxist bias in presentation of a society where so many of sheep were hungry, looked up, and were not fed. But here one can plausibly demand a measure of aesthetic justice, not to mention daylight of common sense. Coriolanus is a play about politics, but it is also a play about pride-and one must allow Caius Marcius and his mother something to be proud of. Let fall be as precipitate and merited as you like, but this is a case where laws of gravitation should be given a generous run for their money. The production was ruined by inexplicable miscasting of principal character. To choose an actor who in personality, voice, movement, and physique was everything Coriolanus is not, did a grave injustice to play, and perhaps a worse to player in question. The general standard of speaking at Royal Shakespeare Theatre has noticeably declined-it tends to oscillate between a shout and a sotto voce-and no improvement to stage or enlargement of auditorium has a corresponding effect on acoustics. Visually, this Coriolanus and productions that followed it were full of beauty and surprise. As a result of costly hydraulic installations, stage can now be a flat or sloping surface and can transform itself into steps and platforms in twinkling of an eye. Walls can shift their angles, and all within same permanent structure. The eye has been somewhat starved at Stratford in recent years, and this change is enormously for better. With appropriate variations, it holds out high promise for years ahead. But it could not save Coriolanus in spite of some good performances in sup-