CORIOLANUS

On the Italian peninsula, the patrician mama's boy Coriolanus, victorious in battle, loses an election when he insults the Roman plebs. But he is not content to finance a conqueror; he himself marches with the invaders. Apparently having a low opinion of politicians and politics, Shakespeare filled this well-wrought political drama with rather unpleasant characters. This is not a perfect mounting. The players, all Brits, are uneven. Some judicious editing would have helped orient the sightless listener. The music choices are downright odd. And near the end, some actors deliver speeches without a clue to their meaning. Ah, but the virtues! This is a brisk, lean, vigorous production beautifully recorded--living theater in the finest sense. One hears not only the poetry and drama of the Bard, but the showmanship. The emphasis is on clarity, ensemble, and character. One hears the fun of actors who enjoy wrapping their tongues around Elizabethan speech, the apogee of our language, as spoken by its greatest poet. Y.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 01]