Coriolanus
The Hypocrites - March 2013
Performed in the Round at the Chopin Theater, Chicago
By William Shakespeare
“Thrillingly realized here by the Hypocrites… In Geoff Button’s staging, Rome is a powder keg threatening to blow at any moment…”
– Zac Thompson, Time Out Chicago
“The Hypocrites' gripping modern-dress staging of Shakespeare's tragedy… is everything Shakespeare should be. The muscular verse is spoken eloquently and urgently; the combat scenes are exciting and tightly choreographed; the performances are full-blooded, detailed, and psychologically complex; and the visuals… inventively support the story's jackknife mood changes. Director Geoff Button and his 12-person cast… skillfully balance classical and contemporary elements in this immensely satisfying production.”
– Albert Williams, The Chicago Reader
“Ideal… Yes, the panoply of war is excitedly and engagingly staged, but only as forcibly as Shakespeare’s language is delivered in Geoff Button’s production of this infrequently performed play. Truthfully, as directed by Button, “Coriolanus” is a far more resonant leader’s-fall-from-grace play than “Julius Caesar”, and “Coriolanus” unquestionably presents the more imposing challenge of the two… The abbreviation comes not, however, at the cost of clarity or character development; the play advances aggressively with nary a breath taken between scenes, but every citizen, tribune, friend and enemy are all distinct and memorable presences.”
– Johnny Oleksinski, New City
“Shakespeare’s rarely performed Roman tragedy, about a war hero whose skills fail to translate to the battlefield of politics, receives a scorching staging from Geoff Button and the Hypocrites… This production makes a centuries-old play about a millennia-old conflict feel like tomorrow’s news… 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… 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.”
– Alex Huntsberger, Centerstage Chicago
- Directed by Geoff Button
- Fight Directed by Ryan Bourque
- Scenic Design by William Boles
- Lighting Design by Jared Moore
- Costume Design by Jeremy Floyd
- Props Design by Corinne Bass
- Sound Design and Original Music by Kevin O'Donnell
- Production Managed by Pat Fries
- Stage Managed by Miranda Anderson
