DIRECTORIAL DEBUT - RALPH FIENNES TO DIRECT CORIOLANUS AND STAR IN TITLE ROLE

[trugannini]

From LA Variety today - confirmation!! Oh boy, it's going to be a brilliant year!!
Let's get after it. Thank you to the producers for finding a backer!!!

STARRING, DIRECTING PROMOTING..... GO RALPH!!

[trugannini]

After having gone into this fanfare boots and all....of course I should have read the article...The article, actually didn't say anything new So depending on what Mary K thinks, I will leave it here for a day or two, and then take it off unless
Variety know something that we don't. Sorry darlings!! :)

[Alice]

*dances around the room waving arms in the air*

[trugannini]

UPDATE: I'll leave the Topic here....Ralph quoted by Liza from Berlinale interview...."we will go into pre-production at the end of this year. The Money "fell away" at the end of last year...." So, Alice, you can stop dancing and waving for a while.:)
Thank you Liza for putting that up on RFC. Found it this morning. How about putting up some old Coriolanus pics of Ralph up on this page, and we could discuss the storyline? Let's keep it alive.. How do you think he will approach the Direction task? What do we know about Vanessa Redgrave's character in it. You know, stuff like that. Any thoughts?

[Liza]

I know this is going to be great project and I'm praying that everything falls into place for it to be made. You know, we're already into the second month of the new year. In all the busyness, the end of the year will be here before too long. Hopefully, all the financial issues will fall into place.

Trug, here are some pictures from the production Ralph did in 2000. : )

Here's a summary of the story from the About Shakespeare website....

Coriolanus Summary:

This play concerns a legendary Roman hero from the 5th century B.C. named Caius Marcius. Marcius is very proud of his deeds and considers himself better than all other men, though he prefers to be fairly anonymous about it. He leads the Roman army to attack the city of Corioli, held by the Volsces, who are led by Lucius Aufidius. Marcius considers Aufidius to be his only worthy opponent. Single-handedly, Marcius defeats the Volscan defenders of the city of Corioli, and nearly beats Aufidius in hand-to-hand combat, though Aufidius flees. For his deeds, Marcius is named Caius Marcius Coriolanus. When Coriolanus returns to Rome, the noble class (the Patricians) wish to make him a tribune (representative) of the common people (the Plebeians). Though Coriolanus' friend Menenius and Coriolanus' fellow army generals Cominius and Titus Larcius support Coriolanus, the evil tribunes Sicinius Velutus and Junius Brutus fear Coriolanus has become too proud and too popular, and may become too powerful. Sicinius and Brutus convince the common people to condemn Coriolanus to death. Coriolanus, outraged, refuses to submit to death (Coriolanus claims he has killed over 20,000 men in his lifetime, and a few Roman citizens would be little match for himself), and instead flees Rome, leaving his wife Virgilia and mother Volumnia in Rome without him.

Out of rage, Coriolanus heads to the city of Antium to find Aufidius to help Aufidius and the Volsces defeat the Roman Empire and seize Rome itself. Led by Coriolanus, the Volsces seize and plunder all of the outlying Roman towns and approach Rome itself. Menenius tries to dissuade Coriolanus from attacking his own people and family in Rome. Though this does not work, Volumnia succeeds in convincing Coriolanus to make peace rather than attack. Volumnia uses Virgilia and Coriolanus' own son to play on Coriolanus' emotions. After making peace, Coriolanus does, however, return to Corioli with Aufidius. Aufidius, furious because Coriolanus did not attack Rome and because Coriolanus has become more powerful than Aufidius himself with Aufidius' own armies and men, murders Coriolanus in a fit of rage in front of the Lords of the city of Corioli. Aufidius, though pleased that Coriolanus is dead, orders that he be given a noble memorial.

[Alice]

Oh bugger. All that dancing around the room for nothing! But even if I have to wait longer than expected for "Coriolanus" I've still got "Uncle Vanya" to look forward to...

*smiles smugly because she lives within reasonable travelling distance of London*

"Coriolanus" is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays but it isn't performed all that frequently, perhaps because it isn't exactly overflowing with sympathetic characters. Most unusually there were two productions in 2007 and I saw them both - one at the Globe in London with the strangely-named Jonathan Cake in the title role:

[IMG]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd293/AliceShortcake/cakecoriola...[/IMG]

...and one in Stratford-upon-Avon (the very last production at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre before it closed down for re-development). The latter starred William Houston as Coriolanus, Timothy West as Menenius and the wonderful Janet Suzman as Volumnia:

[IMG]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd293/AliceShortcake/suzmanvolum...[/IMG]

Another RSC Coriolanus - Toby Stephens, who played Lensky in "Onegin":

[IMG]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd293/AliceShortcake/stephenscor...[/IMG]

The BBC Shakespeare series "Coriolanus" is also worth watching if you can get hold of the DVD. The title role is played by Alan Howard, who also appeared as Tiresias in "Oedipus".

Speaking of the Globe Theatre, I'm thinking of making this autumn's production of "Troilus and Cressida" my London trip for 2009. Casting hasn't been finalized yet but I love the play, another infrequently performed work.

[Alice]

Oops - what's happened to my photos?

[trugannini]

Thank you Liza for the pics, and info. and Alice for the info and links. Lots of Red in the pics Alice....more blood? Will Vanessa Redgrave be playing Volumnia? Do you think the workk will be re-written, like Oedipus was? The Hamlet, Ralph did 13 years ago was speedy, remember, maybe if Shakespeare is spoken more speedily it takes on another life?

[Alice]

Yes, Vanessa Redgrave will be playing Volumnia. It's one of the few major Shakespearean roles for older actresses. There are only three female roles in the play, Coriolanus' mother, wife and a female friend of the family who can be portrayed as a gossipy friend of the family or a Vestal virgin!

The play will have to be quite drastically cut for a film version as it's very long, almost as long as "Hamlet". I don't think the language will be altered much apart from a few minor instances to suit the contemporary setting (assuming that Ralph doesn't change his mind about doing it in modern dress)...

[jockney22]

Is Ralph going to have any acting part in any play/movie he directs?

I hope he directs a lot. That way he can make his own projects his entire life (like Clint Eastwood).

I'm already getting excited that Ralph is taking more control over his acting future. That will hopefully ensure his acting will continue for mega years to come:)

[Liza]

According to the articles I've seen, Ralph will play the title role as well as direct Coriolanus. : )

Here's another photo from the theatrical version in 2000.

[trugannini]

Thank you Liza, this is fabulous. I've never seen this one. You are amazing how you just pop them up on the screen. xoxo :) He looks really Well in this pic. Let's see if we can find out whether Vanessa Redgrave has signed yet, for his mother. Who are the other players?mmmmm I've forgotten.....where are my pills? :) BTW did anyone know that Toby Stephens was Maggie Smith's son? Renee told me the other day...all in the family....good!

[jockney22]

Hot Diggity! Finally, the brilliance of Ralph to be captured in a stage performance. And the awesome solution around the archaic prohibition by theatre unions prohibiting the taping and distribution of theatre shows perfomed by one of the world's greatest actors.

Honestly, as I've said on my soapbox before: Theatre performances by Ralph should be construed as national treasures along the same types as a Picasso Painting or a Rembrandt. All his performances should be preserved for generations to come. I hope any theatre performances he does from now on are also taped and distributed.

Because.....It's real hard to see him on the London stage when I'm sitting across the ocean in Los Angeles.