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Home , Arden Shakespeare, Coriolanus, Hadley Fraser, Josie Rourke

Coriolanus − Learning Pack Contents

About This Pack ...... 1

Background Information ...... 2

Teaching Information ...... 3

Adaptation Details & Plot Synopsis...... 5

Find Out More...... 12

1 − Learning Pack

About

This learning pack supports the production of Coriolanus, directed by , which opened on 6th December 2013 in London.

Our packs are designed to support viewing the recording on the National Collection. This pack provides links to the UK school curriculum and other productions in the Collection. It also has a plot synopsis with timecodes to allow you to jump to specific sections of the play.

1 Coriolanus − Learning Pack Background Information Recording Date – 30th January, 2014 Location – Donmar Warehouse, London Age Recommendation – 12+ (some bloody imagery)

Cast

First Citizen...... Rochenda Sandall Second Citizen ...... Mark Stanley Third Citizen ...... Dwane Walcott Menenius ...... Caius Martius Coriolanus ...... Cominius...... Peter de Jersey Titus Lartius ...... Brutus ...... Elliot Levey Sicinia ...... Helen Schlesinger Aufidius ...... ...... Debroah Findlay ...... Birgitte Hjort Sørensen Valeria, Fourth Citizen ...... Jacqueline Boatswain Young Martius ...... Joe Willis

Creative Team

Director ...... Josie Rourke Playwright ...... Designer ...... Lucy Osborne Lighting Designer...... Mark Henderson Sound Designer ...... Emma Laxton Video Designer ...... Andrzej Goulding Composer...... Michael Bruce Movement ...... Mike Winship Fight Director ...... Richard Ryan

2 Coriolanus − Learning Pack Teaching Information

This production is particularly suitable for:

• English Literature students who are studying the play for A 'Level. • Drama and theatre students who are studying the staging of Shakespeare's plays.

In particular you might like to explore:

• How the creative team have staged this epic Roman play in a small, intimate space. • How the battle scenes are staged. • How the play is made relevant for a contemporary audience.

There are a number of other productions in the National Theatre Collection that relate to this one, which you and your students may wish to explore alongside it.

Other productions by William Shakespeare

Production Date Director (Schools) 2017 Justin Audibert

Hamlet 2010 Nicholas Hytner

Julius Caesar 2018 Nicholas Hytner

King Lear 2011

The Winter's Tale (Schools) 2018 Justin Audibert 2017 Simon Godwin

Romeo and Juliet (Schools) 2018 Bijan Sheibani 2013 Nicholas Hytner

3 Coriolanus − Learning Pack Teaching Information

Other productions featuring members of the same creative team

Production Date Artist One Man, Two Guvnors 2011 Mark Henderson - Lighting Designer

Antigone 2012 Mark Henderson - Lighting Designer

Twelfth Night 2017 Michael Bruce - Composer

4 Coriolanus − Learning Pack Adaptation Details & Plot Synopsis

Differences to Shakespeare’s original*

Very little of the original play is cut, with a few minor changes to scene arrangement and some smaller characters cut or merged.

• Adrian, Nicanor and various , , Officers and minor characters are cut or merged into other Messengers/Soldiers/ Gentlemen. • Act I, Scenes v - vi are cut. • Act IV, Scene iii is cut. • Act V, Scene iv is cut, with scenes iii and vi running one into another. The Conspirators’ lines in the final scene are also cut. • Act V, Scene v is moved to the end of the play as an epilogue.

*Using Third Series edition of Coriolanus Act I, Scene i: Rioting Romans demand the death of Martius, a leading aristocrat who is known for his vanity. Menenius stalls them with a fable about parts society being like different necessary organs of body, justifying the aristocracy. Martius arrives, and his scathing anger quiets the rioters. He reports that the rioting has resulted in a concession to the commoners: the people have been allowed to elect their own judges, called , two of whom are Sicinius and Brutus.

5 Coriolanus − Learning Pack Adaptation Details & Plot Synopsis

News arrives that Rome is threatened by a neighbouring tribe, the Volscians. A municipal delegation - the generals Cominius and Lartius, some Senators, and the new tribunes seek Martius' support in repelling the invaders. He agrees, and remarks on his desire to fight the noble Volscian general, Aufidius, who is a former foe. The aristocrats all depart to prepare for war and leave the tribunes, who talk of their hatred of Martius.

Act I, Scene ii (0:09:37): At Corioles, the Volscian Senators meet with Aufidius to plan their campaign. Aufidius will take the field, and the Senators will defend Corioles.

Act I, Scene iii (0:11:26): Martius' mother, Volumnia, berates his wife, Virgilia, because she is not pleased that he has gone to war. She declares that her son's honourable death would bring her more joy than his birth had. She describes the wounds she hopes her son will receive, which will increase his honour, and she mocks Virgilia's revulsion. Valeria enters, bringing the news that Martius and Cominius have Corioles under siege.

Act I, Scene iv (0:16:51): At Corioles, a delegation of Volscian Senators defy the Romans, and combat begins. The Romans retreat. Martius curses them and charges alone through the city's gates. The Romans believe he has been killed, but he emerges covered in blood, and the Romans rally to his support.

Act I, Scenes v - vii: Cut.

Act I, Scene viii (0:22:20): Martius and Aufidius fight. Several Volscians arrive to assist their general, but Martius drives them all away. Aufidius cries out that he has been shamed by their support.

Act I, Scene ix (0:25:07): Back in Rome, the victorious Martius’ name is chanted by soldiers, but he modestly objects to hearing his deeds

6 Coriolanus − Learning Pack Adaptation Details & Plot Synopsis

praised. Cominius proposes that in honour of his courage he shall hereafter be known as Coriolanus. He washes the blood off his wounds.

Act I, Scene x (0:30:52): Aufidius rages against Martius, who has now defeated him five times. He swears that next time he will not lose even if he must resort to dishonesty.

Act II, Scene i (0:33:05): Menenius berates Sicinius and Brutus for their animosity towards Martius, and he scorns the bad judgment of the common people. Menenius and Volumnia revel in the wounds he will show to the commoners, as tradition demands. Martius, now Coriolanus, returns and is formally welcomed and taken by the aristocrats to the Capitol to receive further honours. The tribunes voice their resentment of Coriolanus, who will now be nominated as consul, the highest office in Rome.

7 Coriolanus − Learning Pack Adaptation Details & Plot Synopsis

Act II, Scene ii (0:41:17): Coriolanus is nominated for the consulate, but he asks to be excused from exhibiting himself to the common people. The tribunes refuse to accept the idea, and the aristocrats attempt to persuade Coriolanus to go through with it. Though uneasy, he agrees and goes with them to perform the ceremony.

Act II, Scene iii (0:46:12): The tribunes suggest the citizens support Coriolanus if he will formally ask them for it. Coriolanus arrives, dressed in the traditional humble garb, and he asks groups of citizens for their support, though in a surly, begrudging manner. They agree to support him, and Menenius and the tribunes confirm his election. Coriolanus and Menenius leave, and the tribunes upbraid the citizens for supporting the proud Coriolanus, as he mocks the poor. They convince the citizens to rescind their approval before Coriolanus' formal installation as consul.

Act III, Scene i (0:53:28): Coriolanus hears that Aufidius has expressed a desire to fight with him, and he wishes for a war. The tribunes report that a mob has risen against Coriolanus. Despite the efforts of the aristocrats to calm him, Coriolanus angrily declares the commoners unworthy of a voice in the selection of a consul. The tribunes declare him an enemy to the people and summon the mob. The mob follows Sicinius' lead and demand that Coriolanus be killed. Coriolanus draws his sword, but the aristocrats take him away.

Act III, Scene ii (1:03:35): Volumnia helps the other aristocrats convince Coriolanus to swallow his pride and apologise to the commoners. After lengthy argument, he finally agrees.

Act III, Scene iii (1:11:50): Brutus and Sicinius instruct a subordinate to prepare the crowd to support whatever line they take in the trial of Coriolanus, who they plan to provoke to anger. Coriolanus and his friends appear, and Coriolanus mildly makes the recantation demanded by the tribunes. When Sicinius calls him a traitor, however,

8 Coriolanus − Learning Pack Adaptation Details & Plot Synopsis

he responds wrathfully and rejects the authority of the common people in insulting terms. The tribunes convict him of treasonous hostility to the people's justice and declare him banished from Rome; the mob takes up the cry. Coriolanus replies angrily that he shall be glad to leave a city controlled by such ignorant commoners, and he departs.

Act IV, Scene i (1:18:58): Coriolanus bids farewell to his family and friends and departs for exile as the citizens hurl fruit at him.

Interval

Act IV, Scene ii (1:24:16): The tribunes encourage the citizens to follow Coriolanus out the gates of the city. Volumnia and Virgilia enter and rage furiously at the victorious tribunes.

Act IV, Scene iii: Cut.

Act IV, Scene iv (1:27:43): Coriolanus, disguised a poor man, arrives in Antium and is directed to Aufidius' house.

9 Coriolanus − Learning Pack Adaptation Details & Plot Synopsis

Act IV, Scene v (1:30:16): Coriolanus finds Aufidius and tells him bitterly of his banishment; he offers to fight for the Volscians against Rome. Aufidius is ecstatic at encountering his great enemy and threatens to kill him, but then accepts his help and welcomes him.

Act IV, Scene vi (1:40:06): The tribunes reflect how peaceful Rome is now they are in charge. Citizens enter, informing them of rumours that the Volscians are planning an invasion on Rome, led by Coriolanus. Menenius and Cominius upbraid the worried tribunes, who hope that the news will prove untrue.

Act IV, Scene vii (1:46:29): A Volscian Lieutenant worries that Aufidius will be overshadowed by Coriolanus' growing popularity among their soldiers. Aufidius confides that he intends eventually to turn against the Roman.

Act V, Scene i (1:49:11): Cominius reports that Coriolanus, whose Volscian army threatens the city, has refused to meet with him. The tribunes convince Menenius to attempt to beg mercy for the city. Cominius says that Menenius will also fail, and that their only hope lies in Coriolanus' mother and wife.

Act V, Scene ii (1:52:42): Menenius visits the Volscians, but the guards declare that Coriolanus has specifically refused entry to any Roman. When Menenius insists that he is an old friend and will be accepted, they mock him. Coriolanus appears and pointedly rejects Menenius.

Act V, Scene iii (2:02:20): Volumnia, Virgilia, Valeria, and Coriolanus' son, visit him. Coriolanus becomes increasingly upset but rejects their petitions for mercy.

Finally, they convince him to make peace with Rome and exit.

10 Coriolanus − Learning Pack Adaptation Details & Plot Synopsis

Act V, Scene iv: Cut.

Act V, Scene vi (2:20:18): A furious Aufidius riles up a group of Volscians to lay charges of treason against Coriolanus. Coriolanus lays down his sword and defiantly stands up to Aufidius. The Volscians hang him from his ankles and cut his throat.

Epilogue (Act V, Scene v) 2:24:33: As Volumnia looks on, a child Herald sings the proclamation that was supposed to welcome Coriolanus home from banishment, calling for an end to the toxic atmosphere that caused his exile.

The End

11 Coriolanus − Learning Pack

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