Ep. 24 & 25 Robert Lepage's Coriolanus at the Stratford Festival

In this episode, we discuss the Stratford Festival’s current modern dress production of Coriolanus directed by Robert Lepage.

Québécois director and set designer Robert Lepage makes his Stratford Festival debut this year with a modern dress production of Coriolanus. André Sills stars as Coriolanus and Stratford Grand Dame Lucy Peacock plays Volumnia. Known for mixing film elements (through projections) with theatre, Lepage creates a series of stunning backdrops and sets to make the settings feel almost as real as if it were film. There’s a lot of stage magic involved that’s an impressive achievement. Lepage plans to remount the production in Montreal next year in French with a new francophone cast.

Listen to part 1 of our discussion (Ep. 24):

Part one of this episode focuses on Lepage’s design for the production, the world he creates, and how he uses projections.

Listen to part 2 of our discussion (Ep. 25):

In this episode, we discuss how the production approaches the relationships between each of the key characters: Volumnia and Coriolanus, Volumnia and Menenius, Menenius and the Tribunes, Menenius and Coriolanus, and Coriolanus and Aufidius.

Notes on the production and podcast

Here is a teaser trailer for the production:

You can read the interview with Robert Lepage that Craig quotes from here.

This production runs at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario until October 20. For dates and tickets, visit the Stratford website here.

Members of the company in Coriolanus. Photography by David Hou.
Stephen Ouimette (left) as Junius Brutus and Tom Rooney as Sicinius Velutus in Coriolanus. Photography by David Hou.
Members of the company in Coriolanus. Photography by David Hou.
Members of the company in Coriolanus. Photography by David Hou.
From left: Graham Abbey as Tullus Aufidius, André Sills as Coriolanus, Tom McCamus as Menenius Agrippa and Farhang Ghajar as Sentinel #2 in Coriolanus. Photography by David Hou.
André Sills as Coriolanus in Coriolanus. Photography by David Hou.
Lucy Peacock as Volumnia and André Sills as Coriolanus in Coriolanus. Photography by David Hou.
Projected image of André Sills as Coriolanus in Coriolanus. Photography by David Hou.