By Joel Applegate
Timely and explosive, Shakespeare’s late tragedy, Coriolanus, explores the gap between haves and have-nots while their leaders engage in a treacherous struggle for power in New World Shakespeare Company’s production at the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City, UT.
Collectively the company transforms a bare stage into battlefields outside the gates of Rome and in the armed encampments of the countryside. The cast gets the relationships right and the warring sides are made clear to the audience. A streamlined edit of the play, provided by co-directors Coner Thompson and Sierra Trinchet pared a wide-ranging script down to just 90 minutes (including the intermission) without leaving any plot gaps.
“Food for the People!” The rabble-rousing plebeians urge the audience to revolt as they hand out flyers in the opening scene. The modern dress costumes designed by the cast and crew make us feel like we are in the present day. I liked the costuming a lot. It made sense and in some characters, stylish jackets sport lapel pins that serve as memes or identifiers.
As the costuming suggests, this production of Coriolanus is anything but traditional. All NWSC casting is non-gender, non-race, and non-age specific, except where a parent and child relationship has to be established. The gender of all the lead characters and drivers of the conflict is flipped. They are all played by women. The cast is led by Eva TerraNova, searing through her lines as the title character. Her sworn enemy Aufidius is played by Wendy Dang, who shows a fluent ease of phrasing and language. As Coriolanus, TerraNova resists pressure from the starving class and ignores the urgency of events going on in the capitol. Her proud taunting leads to class warfare precipitating the play’s main conflict.
Supporting characters include Menius, played by Connor MacLeod in his pink tie, as a sort of lieutenant to Coriolanus. He attempts to mitigate the consequences resulting from her misreading of the populace in Rome. I admired his clarity in speech and earnest connection to everyone around him. Jon Turner, as parent to Coriolanus – a father instead of a mother as in the original text, fulfills the role of Agrippa in a solid performance that reveals this man has honed his acting chops long ago. Jeffrey Owen as the general in khakis, Cominius, contributes most to the war-like atmosphere.
For those unfamiliar with Coriolanus, the gender bent casting resulted in a pair of same-sex wives, which in turn led to a moment of jealousy that prompted some chuckles in the audience. I’ll admit I needed some clarification, which one of the co-directors provided when I spoke with him later, since names of characters weren’t quite clear to me at first. But this is not the only theatrical aspect turned on its head. Playgoers may be familiar with another convention sometimes used in the performance of Shakespeare, which NWSC uses to great effect. In several instances, lines of one character are given to another. NWSC goes even further in their staging, and split at least three characters among two actors. Thus, Menius Agrippa becomes Menius and Agrippa, and Sicinius Velutus becomes Sicinius and Velutus, and so forth. The actor playing Brutus (Junius Brutus in Shakespeare’s text), Jenn Waterhouse, also doubles as Adrian, paramour to Coriolanus’s rival, Aufidius, in the second half of the show. Waterhouse turns in admirable performances in both roles with changes in a few costume details and a big change in attitude. Brutus’s cohort, Sicinius, is played by Catherine Mortimer, and as the two Tribunes of the people, they provide crucial shape to the narrative. I found myself mostly relying on them to follow the plot and motivations of the impoverished rebels in Rome. Coriolanus has “not been friendly to the people.”
Just for clarity’s sake between different parts of scenes, I think the small, bare stage in this production could have benefitted from a few risers added for levels, or better delineated playing areas. But from my own experience, working in a poor theater – as in absence-of-money – poverty is the mother of wise choices. NWSC makes many wise choices in this production. It’s a tale that keeps you engaged and fascinated as relationships evolve and alliances collapse and re-form. As a spare entertainment packing a lot into a short evening, Coriolanus at the NWSC is well worth your time and the trip to downtown Salt Lake. See it before the riot ends.
For a Summary of Coriolanus
To read all the Bard’s plays
New World Shakespeare Company presents Coriolanus, by William Shakespeare.
The Box at the Gateway Mall, 124 South 400 West, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
January 9 – 19, 2020: Th-Sat 7:30 PM, Sunday 3:00 PM
Tickets: $15 Standing, $20 Limited Seating
Contact: 801-719-7998
New World Shakespeare Company Facebook Page
Coriolanus Facebook Event
Each NWSC production benefits a charitable campaign for a local cause that relates to the theme of the show. Coriolanus contributes a portion of each ticket to help Continue Mission, an organization assisting veterans who have service connected physical, mental, and emotional injuries.
Coriolanus contains violence and gore and may not be suited for children.
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