by AMY BARRATT

Anyone who thinks that Hamlet is Shakespeare’s only pouting, adolescent protagonist should check out Trent Pardy’s Coriolanus. Pardy portrays the Roman nobleman in Gravy Bath’s production of this relatively obscure tragedy that opened last week in a truly auspicious beginning for the New Classical Theatre Festival.

Coriolanus is often portrayed as a snob who can’t be bothered with the common folk. But under the direction of Madd Harold at the Saidye ‘B’ Off-Centre, Coriolanus’ distaste for the masses is not class-based but rather a Holden Caulfield-esque rejection of "phoniness." Pardy’s pouting baby face and slouching posture land the NTS grad halfway between James Dean and Marlon Brando. There’s also a passing resemblance to Eminem.

What he doesn’t look like is a Roman general, but that doesn’t matter. Coriolanus is about a person who has a talent in one area - Shakespeare makes him a warrior, but the story could be told about a musician, athlete or chess whiz - but no knack or desire to play the public-relations game. In his body language, Pardy is every teenage punk sneering, "If they won’t accept me as I am, screw them." The guy is prickly, no doubt about it, but the question this play asks is, should he die for it?

Although there are modern-day elements inserted into this production, this is not a resetting of Shakespeare in a different place or time period like Gravy Bath’s adaptations of Henry V (2002) or Tempest (2001). References to Romans and their opponents the Volscians have been kept intact, but this is far from a meticulous reproduction of the period. Numerous pairs of sandals and fabric draped to suggest Senators’ robes evoke the period, but they intermingle in the costume design with Levis, fedoras and a sport jacket. Harold has made actor Mike Hughes into a Beckett-esque tramp who frames the piece. To give away more would be to spoil some of the joy of discovery. Reader, I implore you: go see it for yourself.

Harold has whittled the text down to the bare bones. If the play still runs three hours it’s because he has replaced long speeches with exhilarating action and inspired imagery. What he is able to show us using the most minimal props and the 17 bodies on stage is awe-inspiring. Gravy Bath is talking about creating a Theatre of the Imagination with this festival, and indeed there are feats of imagination being performed on that stage that make the heart leap.

Is the production providing deep new insights into the play? Hard to say. But given a choice between this and a reverential, histrionic reading, I’ll take Gravy Bath’s innovation every time.

Up until a year ago, reviews of this company, however glowing, had to contain a few buts, usually about the uneven quality of the acting. With Ugly last winter, and now Coriolanus, there are no more buts… unless you count the ones filling every available seat at the Saidye ‘B’, if there’s any justice.

The New Classical Theatre Festival: Coriolanus plays in repertory with The Portrait of Dorian Gray until Sept. 6 at the Saidye (5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine), $10–$15, 540-0774

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