Premiere of the theatre play “Coriolanus” by William Shakespeare

“Coriolanus” by William Shakespeare

Directed by John Blondell

NI National Theatre Bitola

“Coriolanus” is a political tragedy with stark psychological nuances. The play is full of energy, with a lively and impressive dramatic drive. The production of NI National theatre Bitola explores the relationship between the leader and the masses, the inconsistencies and fractions as well as the fluctuating perspectives towards war heroes. The work permeates deep into psychological depths that only exists in the works of Shakespeare.  The English poet T. S. Eliot has ranked this drama alongside “Antony and Cleopatra” as “Shakespeare’s highest artistic accomplishment”.

This play is very fitting for the actors of Bitola’s National theatre as their energy and stage presence are perfect for the dramatic material, while the visual and music creations of the in-house team lift the performance to a high level of theatre poetry.

The production is created with the space of the St. Sophia’s vestibule in mind and is performed by 7 actors who play multiple physical theatre roles in a span of 80 minutes.  The idea is that the claustrophobic, compact use of space between actors, coupled with them performing double or triple role parts would also depict the break down and changeable nature of political fraction in the piece and enhance the strong emotional and visual rhythms.

“Coriolanus” marks the fifth collaboration of the Bitola National Theatre with John Blondell and his fourth Shakespeare production. Previously he has directed “Henry the VI part 3” for the Globe-to-Globe festival at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2012, “Antony and Cleopatra” in 2015 and “Midsummer night’s dream” in 2018- all of them performed also at the Ohrid Summer festival.  Bitola has become an “artistic home” for Blondell since 2009, and this relationship has led to multiple awards both with the whole ensemble and for individual artists. The ensemble has been on tour in London, Santa Barbara, Beijing and in other cities.

Stage and costume design: Blagoj Micevski

Light design: Jonathan Hicks

Music: Aleksandar Dimovski

Roles:

Ognen Drangovski

Petar Gorko

Borche Gjakovski

Marjan Georgievski

Sanda Gribovska

Julijana Mirchevska

Petar Spirovski

Duration: 90 min

Not recommended for persons under the age of 16 years