Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Coriolanusis not training-wheels Shakespeare.
What it has to say about people individuals and collectives isnt pretty or hopeful.
No: Were bored because its boring.
Were constantly distracted from the argument of the language by niggling questions about the logic of the aesthetic.
Out of the enormous cast, only Bougere seems to be having any fun.
Hes friends with the language and juggles its nuance lightly.
And as Volumnia, Coriolanuss infamous hard-ass of a mother, Kate Burton doesnt fare much better.
without any tremor of sex in them, but somehow Cancelmi manages it.
But that sense of being overdressed and drained ofoomphcomes down to no single actor.
It pervades the entire production.
Compelling ambivalence is different from deadening ambiguity.
What should we take away from thisCoriolanus?
That people are wolves as individuals and dogs in a group?
That the many-headed multitude will or wont eventually stumble its way toward a more just society?
That democracy is dangerous?
That democracy is the only way?
That Martius was dangerous?
That Martius was right?
I really dont know.
And in this production, I really dont care.
Coriolanusis at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park through August 11.
