When I first decided that I wanted to direct Coriolanus, I didn't realize how challenging it would be to find the right setting. I spent months trying to figure out how to bring this relatively unknown play to a place that would make sense for the modern audience, but also stay true to Shakespeare's intentions.
I can't pinpoint the moment when it finally hit me, but once it did, I knew that it was the only way that it could be done. I needed to find a way to create a gritty Gotham feel, so that Coriolanus could truly fill the role of a dark hero.
Coriolanus is like many of our beloved superheroes, torn between the violence that defines him as a savior and the city's need for him to be a true leader.
But how far should a man have to go to protect the people that would turn on him in an instant and is there really anything left of Rome that's worth saving?
Act One
In the aftermath of a famine, the citizens of Rome demand the right to set their own price for the city's food supply. In response to their protests, city leaders grant the citizens five tribunes to act as their representatives. This decision provokes the ire of the city's vigilante, Caius Martius, who has nothing but contempt for the lower class who he believes need to learn to fight for themselves.
At this time, war breaks out with a neighboring gang, the Volscians, who are led by Martius' great rival, Tullus Aufidius. In the fight that follows, the Volscians are defeated, and the Rome takes the city of Corioles, thanks to the heroism of Martius. In recognition of his great deeds, he is granted the name Coriolanus.
Upon his return to Rome, Coriolanus is given a hero's welcome, and the Senate offers to give him a government position. In order to gain this office, however, he must go out and plead for the votes of the citizens, a task that he undertakes reluctantly. At first, the citizens agree to give him their votes, but they later reverse their decision at the prodding of two manipulative local bar owners, Brutus and Sicinius, who consider Coriolanus an enemy of the people. This drives the proud Coriolanus into a fury, and he speaks out rashly. Brutus and Sicinius, seizing on his words, declare him a traitor to the city and drive him into hiding.
Act Two
Desiring revenge against Rome, Coriolanus goes to his enemy, Aufidius, in the city of Antium, and makes peace with him. Aufidius is planning a new attack on the Romans, and he welcomes Coriolanus's assistance. His gang proceeds to approach on Rome, throwing the city into a panic--Rome's armies are helpless to stop the advance, and soon Aufidius and Coriolanus are encamped outside the city. Two of his oldest friends come pleading for mercy, but Coriolanus refuses to hear him. However, when his mother, Volumnia, to whom he is devoted, begs him to make peace, he relents, and the Romans hail Volumnia the savior of the city. Aufidius, feeling slighted, declares that Coriolanus's failure to take Rome amounts to treachery and a fight to the death ensues.
