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Study Guide written by Luisa Appolloni, Resident Teaching Artist, Education Department (Stratford Festival)

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY GUIDE

"Would you have me

False to my nature? Rather say I play

The man I am."

- Coriolanus, Coriolanus, Act III, scene 2

This play holds a certain fascination for today's audience. The main character is a hero, proud and unwilling to change or compromise. However, the story is far more complex than just that of a man and his relationships. War, politics and betrayal are core themes, but contemporary audiences will be fascinated by the nascent ideas of democracy and its inherent fragility. Shakespeare paints a cautionary tale in which freedoms are challenged by growing inequality, extremism, intolerance and authoritarianism. In the struggle between the rule of the elite versus the rule of the people, students will confront many issues to determine if the play is critical or sympathetic to the ideas it raises, and ultimately if there is room for moral ambiguity.

Curriculum Connections

Grades 10 to 12

All grades: Language/English (listening to understand, speaking to communicate, reading for meaning)
All grades: Drama, Music, Visual Art
Grades 10-12: Health and PE (interpersonal skills, conflict resolution harassment, violence and abuse, leadership)
Grade 10: Civics [Politics] (civic awareness, civic engagement and action)
Grade 11: Introduction to Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology (explaining human behaviour and culture, socialization)
Grade 11: World History to the End of the Fifteenth Century (conflict, civilizations, citizenship)
Grade 11: Politics in Action: Making Change (foundations of political engagement, policy, politics and democratic change)
Grades 11-12: Philosophy (metaphysics, ethics, epistemology, aesthetics)
Grade 12: World History Since the Fifteenth Century (conflict, cooperation, citizenship)
Grade 12: Adventures in World History (society and community, politics and conflict)
Grade 12: Canadian and International Politics (political foundations, civic awareness and responsibility)

Topics

Shakespeare

Who he was, body of work, significance in English drama/literature
Dramatists of the Renaissance
Early modern drama

Elizabethan/Jacobean England

Social and economic structure (class system, playhouses, plays and players)
Values and beliefs (four humours, Chain of Being, etc.)
Conventions of early English drama (tragedy, five-act structure)

Language

Imagery, blank verse, rhetoric

Themes and Motifs

Politics, society and self
Family
Power
Language and communication
War
Pride and honour
Arrogance vs. humility
Gender roles
Class and class privileges
Past vs. progress
Love
Rivalry and envy
Reputation
Words vs. action
Enemy and friend
Fortune and fate
Service
Theatre
Virtue, valour and worthiness
Poverty vs. wealth and privilege

An Interview with Robert Lepage, Director, Coriolanus

Why have you chosen to work in collaboration with the Stratford Festival?

Ex Machina is into creating new dramaturgical forms and new writing experiences and ways of seeing the theatre; trying things that haven't been done before. But that cannot happen without being grounded in the repertoire. The Festival brings us back to the fundamentals of acting and storytelling.

We [Lepage and the Festival] have been trying to work together for a long time. We have radically different ways of working, so it took a while - 12 years, actually. The kind of work I do - "creation theatre" - usually isn't done with a lot of people. Typically I use smaller casts, rarely on an epic scale. We can do things at the Festival that can't be done anywhere else. We have actors who can perform in a musical in the afternoon and Shakespeare in the evening, and an infrastructure that can support larger work.

Both sides are excited about the idea of working together. I have always been a great admirer of Stratford. Great actors. Many of the company members are adventurous and look to take risks. There is a lot of freedom to try new things.

Why Coriolanus? What excites you about the play? What can the audience expect from this production?

Coriolanus is a fresco about the pros and cons of democracy. Coriolanus is an intriguing character; an interesting guy and you also hate him. It's a play that people return to; a debate about the workings of democracy. None of the parties is innocent. Coriolanus represents the military, despises the public; the people are trying to fight against the 1%; and then there are the tribunes who speak for the people. Every part of the democratic system is represented and all are crooked.

It is a political play, but doesn't take one side more than the other. It is a piece where you could have a debate after with your fellow theatregoers.

Most great playwrights favour unity of space. Shakespeare is epic, cinematic in that sense. He forces us to change locations all the time; creates formal and architectural challenges. Forces the audience's mind to change place and atmosphere, doing close-ups, flashbacks in a cinematic way that today's audience understands. We are ready to read Shakespeare in a contemporary way; to zoom in on things in the play. We will use today's tools to help tell and enhance Shakespeare's story and paradoxes of characters. We will play around with time and space. It will be in modern dress but will not try to find the equivalents for today (no Trumps, for example).

PRE-SHOW DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Ask students:

What do you expect to see on the stage of the Avon Theatre at the Stratford Festival? Have each student make a list of predictions, and save them. After your Stratford trip, revisit the those predictions to see how they compared to the actual production.
What is democracy? What are the benefits of this system? What are its drawbacks?
What do you look for in a leader?
Should a politician stay true to his/her nature or change to suit the needs of the people?

WARM-UP EXERCISE: CORIOLANUS'S POLITICAL RANT

Objective:

This exercise provides an opportunity for students to critically analyse Coriolanus's first speech to the citizens of Rome. Students will explore Shakespeare's use of antithesis to intensify dramatic effect and gain insights into his personality.

Materials:

Act I, scene 1 script

Directions:

1. Coriolanus, the patrician (upper class), makes use of antithesis as he scorns the plebeians (ordinary people) of Rome. Have the students look at Act I, scene 1: "What would you have, you curs…feed on one another?"

2. Working in pairs, have the students create a list of the antithetical words and phrases (e.g., peace/war).

3. Then have each pair speak the speech to each other, alternating lines or phrases. Emphasize the insults and play up the antithesis.

Debriefing Questions:

Discuss how Shakespeare uses antithesis to intensify dramatic effect and to point out Coriolanus's personality. What did you discover while doing this activity?
Imagine you are a citizen of Rome (a plebeian) who has been conscripted into a war against the Volsces (or Volscians). You are led by a Roman patrician, whom you believe has been keeping back food while you are near starvation. What would be your reaction and your reply to Martius's speech?
Martius is angered that his class privilege is under attack and expresses nothing but contempt. If you were a journalist, how might you report this? Would you try to remain as unbiased as possible, or would you take issue with some of the points he raises in his speech?

EXERCISE: COMPARING LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES

Objective:

This exercise will enable students to critically assess leadership styles by comparing and contrasting rhetorical devices in Shakespeare's Henry V and Coriolanus. The students will explore and identify techniques used to make convincing arguments.

Materials:

Handouts of two speeches. The first, from Henry V, is King Henry's speech to his soldiers as they advance on the city of Harfleur. The other, from Coriolanus, is spoken by Martius (later named Coriolanus) as he tries to rally his retreating soldiers into fighting their enemy, the Volsces.

Directions:

1. Hand out copies of the two speeches to the students. Read the speeches aloud, or YouTube them if you prefer to get a sense of the scope and magnitude of what is being said.

2. Working in pairs, have the students read through the speeches together and go over any words or phrases that are new to them for meaning and clarity.

3. Students will then compare and contrast the leadership style in the two speeches.

4.Things to look for:

a. Language of war

b. The power of rhetoric (speechmaking) evokes different emotions. Political leaders use certain techniques to elicit a response. These include (but are not limited to) the following:

i. Rhythm

ii. Rhyme

iii. Alliteration

iv. Rhetorical questions

v. Exaggeration

vi. Antithesis

vii. Repetition

5. Have the students jot down their findings, paying close attention to how the leadership styles differ and the effects they might have on the soldiers.

6. Next have the students choose passages from each of the speeches and read them aloud to one another, employing a particular vocal style of delivery (e.g., playing it truthfully, sarcastically, humorously, etc.).

7. Then have the teams come together in a round-table discussion to share their findings.

Debriefing Questions:

If you were a soldier listening to each leader's call to arms, how would you react? Who is the more persuasive in your opinion and why?
What did you notice about the tones of each of the speeches? What tactics did they employ?
Martius (Coriolanus) is an impressive war hero, known for his military prowess, but has a temper and suffers no fools. Does that matter when you are fighting a war? What qualities would you look for in a military leader today?

Introduction to the Study Guide

Study Guide written by Luisa Appolloni, Resident Teaching Artist, Education Department (Stratford Festival)

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY GUIDE

"Would you have me

False to my nature? Rather say I play

The man I am."

- Coriolanus, Coriolanus, Act III, scene 2

This play holds a certain fascination for today's audience. The main character is a hero, proud and unwilling to change or compromise. However, the story is far more complex than just that of a man and his relationships. War, politics and betrayal are core themes, but contemporary audiences will be fascinated by the nascent ideas of democracy and its inherent fragility. Shakespeare paints a cautionary tale in which freedoms are challenged by growing inequality, extremism, intolerance and authoritarianism. In the struggle between the rule of the elite versus the rule of the people, students will confront many issues to determine if the play is critical or sympathetic to the ideas it raises, and ultimately if there is room for moral ambiguity.

Curriculum Connections

Grades 10 to 12

All grades: Language/English (listening to understand, speaking to communicate, reading for meaning)
All grades: Drama, Music, Visual Art
Grades 10-12: Health and PE (interpersonal skills, conflict resolution harassment, violence and abuse, leadership)
Grade 10: Civics [Politics] (civic awareness, civic engagement and action)
Grade 11: Introduction to Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology (explaining human behaviour and culture, socialization)
Grade 11: World History to the End of the Fifteenth Century (conflict, civilizations, citizenship)
Grade 11: Politics in Action: Making Change (foundations of political engagement, policy, politics and democratic change)
Grades 11-12: Philosophy (metaphysics, ethics, epistemology, aesthetics)
Grade 12: World History Since the Fifteenth Century (conflict, cooperation, citizenship)
Grade 12: Adventures in World History (society and community, politics and conflict)
Grade 12: Canadian and International Politics (political foundations, civic awareness and responsibility)

Topics

Shakespeare

Who he was, body of work, significance in English drama/literature
Dramatists of the Renaissance
Early modern drama

Elizabethan/Jacobean England

Social and economic structure (class system, playhouses, plays and players)
Values and beliefs (four humours, Chain of Being, etc.)
Conventions of early English drama (tragedy, five-act structure)

Language

Imagery, blank verse, rhetoric

Themes and Motifs

Politics, society and self
Family
Power
Language and communication
War
Pride and honour
Arrogance vs. humility
Gender roles
Class and class privileges
Past vs. progress
Love
Rivalry and envy
Reputation
Words vs. action
Enemy and friend
Fortune and fate
Service
Theatre
Virtue, valour and worthiness
Poverty vs. wealth and privilege