Coriolanus poliittisena kannanottona

Authors

• Pirkko Koski Helsingin yliopisto

Keywords:

poliittinen draama, yhteiskunnallinen teatteri, teatterihistoria, klassikot/Shakespeare, vastaanotto

Abstract

The English Shakespeare Company visited Finland in January 1991: its performance of William Shakespeare's Coriolanus reflected contemporary turmoil in Europe, which in Finland was associated with recent events in the Baltics. This performance tangibly demonstrated the political potential of Coriolanus. The play had previously been performed in Finland in 1912, 1934, 1970, and 1971, yet none of those productions were remembered as socio-political theatre, and only one production seems to have had any overt political goals. The play tracks the political rise of arrogant Coriolanus and depicts the class divides and factional politics of Ancient Rome. In this review I explore the potential links between Finnish productions of the play and their own politically charged societal contexts by examining selected contemporary sources of each production. Theatre reviews at the time mainly focused on dramatic execution and the cultural significance of the play, yet lone references to contemporary politics can be found for all performances. The most polarised views were expressed in the 1930s when the left was critical of the play’s depiction of the general populace, the centre saw the contempt for democracy as potentially dangerous, and the far right justified the negative depiction of the public through racial profiling. Despite contemporary political tensions swirling around all of these Coriolanus productions, commentaries at the time did not lead to wider societal discussions, and without the accompanying political discourse, the performances themselves have not garnered much attention.