Centerstage - Chicago's Original City Guide

“Coriolanus” is not one of Shakespeare’s more popular works. And it’s not too difficult to see why. The titular hero is a brutal, unlovable killer whose inability to play nice with, well, almost anyone, leads to his tragic downfall. The play is heavy on politics, and light on matters of the heart. There is almost no laughter. However, in the able hands of The Hypocrites, “Coriolanus” becomes something probably no critic has ever accused it of being: a love story.

When Roman general Caius Marcius (Steve O’Connell) returns from a successful campaign against his arch-nemesis Aufidius (Jude Roche) he is given the ceremonial title “Coriolanus” and is nominated to serve as consul in the Roman government. Ever used to the “my way or the highway” style of military life, Marcius proves as bad at popular governance as he is good at killing. Disgraced and banished, he flees and joins forces with Aufidius in order to teach Rome a lesson. Sadly for him, he’s the one about to get schooled.

Director Geoff Button creates a dark, claustrophobic atmosphere, with wooded sets (William Boles) and low, smoky lighting (Jared Moore). The show is staged in the double round, with the audience surrounding the main playing space and then a series of platforms surrounding the audiences. At times it feels less like a stage and more like a killing floor, with the prolonged kinetic fight choreography by Ryan Borque playing out in stereo, all around.

But as much as the production nails the play’s violent exterior, it’s the soft underbelly exposed that makes it linger in one’s memory. As mentioned early, this production is a love story. And the brutal first encounter between Marcius and Aufidis carries with it a palpable sexual charge. These two men both have eyes only for one another, and when they unite later in the play, there is a romantic swelling that puts Romeo and Juliet to shame. O’Connell is fantastic as Marcius, capturing the pain and anger that drives him forward and separates him from all but his bitterest enemy. And La Roche brings a kind of thuggish charm and almost softness to Aufidius: the kind of man who would be described as “a lover, not a fighter” were those two things not for him synonymous.

In finding the heart buried deep within Coriolanus’s blood-stained, battle-scarred chest, The Hypocrites have done Shakespeare and his fans a great, much needed service.