Coriolanus

Too much honor and bitter betrayal appear on all sides, and Coriolanus's mother, Volumnia, steals the show. “O mother, mother, what have you done?"

See Wikipedia for a detailed synopsis.

For those of you who provide parts a scene at a time, this Character Chart shows all the characters' lines in each scene: Coriolanus

If your group reads the plays straight through in one sitting and you want to divide up the parts, we have a number of “cast” lists already divided up for you. These are text files that you edit to suit your group. We always recommend in a straight-through read that each participant take a moment beforehand to mark their parts—then everything proceeds so smoothly.

• Cast for 8, plus a reader for Stage Directions
• Cast for 9, plus a reader for Stage Directions
• Cast for 11, plus a reader for Stage Directions

This link is to Marjorie Garber's free Harvard lecture on Coriolanus.

This is the First Folio text from the Internet Shakespeare Editions supported by the University of Victoria.

There are two recent films of Coriolanus. The Ralph Fienes version with Vanessa Redgrave as the amazing Volumnia and Gerard Butler as Tullus Aufidius is horrifyingly brutal and focuses on the violence of war rather than the text of Shakespeare. If you actually want to see the Shakespeare play, the Tom Hiddleston version from the Donmar Warehouse in London give you more of the actual text without losing any of the tension.

Back to the Readers' Editions and readers' support page.

Our Readers’ Edition $9.75

This is an audio recording of the play by professional actors with sound effects:

See the note to the left. And make sure the DVD you buy will play in your area and on your player!