Coriolanus / by Robert Ormsby.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ormsby, Robert, author.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Shakespeare in performance

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Coriolanus.

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Stage history.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Criticism and interpretation.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xii, 281 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press, 2014.

Summary:

This book is a study of twenty stage productions, adaptations and screen versions of Shakespeare's final Roman play. It makes available for the first time sustained discussions of major productions of the play in four languages and five countries, and explores how Shakespeare's mature and austere drama, arguably the most political in the canon, has been shaped to circumstances radically different from its original early modern staging. Following a survey of the play in performance from the seventeenth to the late nineteenth centuries, the book offers in-depth analyses of a dozen Coriolanus productions covering the postwar era to the twenty-first century. Taking up such issues as the enduring legacy of 'star' actors in staging Shakespeare, the role of national cultural institutions in moulding Shakespearean performance, and the influence of German director Bertolt Brecht on modern theatre and Shakespeare production, it also addresses questions of literary, televisual and cinematic adaptation. This volume combines close readings of production documents, press reviews, interviews, and broad historical contextualization to examine the use of Shakespeare by the BBC, the Berliner Ensemble, the Katona József Theatre in communist Hungary, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Britain's National Theatre, the New York Shakespeare Festival, Robert Lepage's Theatre and Ralph Fiennes' major motion picture. It will be of interest to a wide range of readers, including specialists, graduate students and undergraduates studying both Coriolanus and the history of Shakespearean performance. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter I Introduction - Coriolanus from the seventeenth to the twentieth century 1

Chapter II Olivier's Coriolanus 28

Chapter III Coriolanus and Brecht, 1951-71 46

Chapter IV Brechtian vestiges and Shakespeare-plus-relevance - The RSC's Coriolanus 1972-73 86

Chapter V Alan Howard on stage and screen 105

Chapter VI Shakespeare and Thatcher's England - The 1984-85 NT Coriolanus 140

Chapter VII Shakespeare and goulash communism - Coriolanus in Budapest in 1985 157

Chapter VIII Shakespeare meets the American public - The 1988-89 NYSF Coriolanus 172

Chapter IX Québécois Shakespeare goes global - Robert Lepage's Coriolan 190

Chapter X Bringing Shakespeare home or settling in comfortably? The new Globe's 2006 Coriolanus 208

Chapter XI Coriolanus as failed action hero 222.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-273) and index.

ISBN:

9780719078675

0719078679

OCLC:

887934183