THEATRE
IN the canon of Shakespeare's plays Coriolanus has a peculiar and rather for- bidding position. Little performed and less 1. quoted, it differs from the rest of the , tragedies (or for that matter from the Roman plays) in being more properly a heroic play, . anticipating with its conflict exterior to the hero's character the contradictions of . Corneille. For it is a feature of the Hero Proper that he does not think and conse- quently his efforts towards personal auto- Homy are not worked out in terms of intel- lectual conflict, but in those of action and outside circumstance. Coriolanus goes towards his disaster not because of any inevitable resolution of inner tension, but simply through what almost seems to be the accident of the society in which he lives. The tragedy is the failure of his egotism to reach independence of others, but Shake- speare presents that failure in such a way that 'the emphasis is placed on the sympa- thetically human weakness rather than on the Selfish superman aspiration. Hence the difficulty of playing the part : Coriolanus is likely to seem fairly insufferable and the variation between the successful general commanding his troops and the sixth-former telling off a junior-school boy makes the character unconvincing (his soldiers after all Were drawn from the Roman plebs and he must have been able to talk to them). ‘, Richard Burton's performance at the Old vie gets over the difficulties remarkably well, bringing out Coriolanus's essential imma- turitY as well as his sulky bewilderment at all this fuss about nothing. It was very much Mr. Burton's part—the best he has had this season—and he took full advantage of it. His Coriolanus is pathetic (perhaps the Most difficult element to infuse into the Part), suffering dumbly like a beast, like a race-horse used to draw milk-carts, and his inability to communicate his suffering to others is symbolised at the end of the play When his body is left alone on the stage in the bright red cloak of an Imperator.- michael Benthall's production makes the most of this moment which sets off with a bitter irony the earlier scene of Coriolanus's triumphal entry into Rome. Mr. Benthall snows us four stages in Caius Martius's career, each one centred around a tableau— the entry into Rome, the departure into exile, the interview before the walls of Rome, the death scene. For this production is 'cavil), weighted on. Coriolanus's side : the only serious criticism that might be made of It is that the tribunes (Edgar Wreford ' and Laurence Hardy) are played as buffoons and the Roman mob as a collection of cut- throats. This tends to rob the play of its serious political content and to unbalance the clash of sympathies. The real conflict Their demands strike a moderate note as Menenius (who was obviously a Welfare State Tory) sees. William Squire makes of this part something to remember and scores the clearest success of the production—a well-deserved tribute to hard work and good acting. His attempt to put words into Coriolanus's mouth when the latter was addressing the people was a fine piece of comedy. Here for once is a middling part in Shakespeare played exactly as it ought to be played. Fay Compton, too, can always be relied on for polished acting : her Volumnia was an admirable study in sheer will-power. Claire Bloom neither added to nor detracted from the merits of this production.
For, all in all, this is far and away the best thing we have seen at the Old Vic this season, In spite of the difficulties created by the permanent set, Mr. Benthall's pro- duction was fast-moving and pleasant to look at. Moreover% although some members of the cast still speak verse rather roughly, one could hear all that was said. This is a great advance. The successful production of so difficult a play gives grounds for confidence in the Old Vic's future. But what a play it is
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This was a crowded week in the theatre : down at Stratford Theatre Workshop has put on John Marston's Dutch Courtesan— a rather inferior play, but interesting in a commedia dell'arte sort of way. This kind of thing always appeals to producers more than to audiences. At the St. Martin's Cornelia Otis Skinner gives her one-woman revue. Many of Miss Skinner's sketches are amusing, some are moving, but perhaps she could do with a little assistance. The same may be said about the Al Read show. Mr. Read himself is a first-rate comedian of the old school and he is well supported by Sally Barnes, Lauri Lupino Lane and George Truzzi, but some more turns were needed. As it was, we had to put up with a recon- struction of the sinking of the Armada. I enjoyed the bangs.
ANTHONY HARTLEY
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