Shakespeare’s Roman Plays as a Political Trilogy

Abstract

The paper discusses an interesting theatrical experiment carried out by director Ivo van Hove in 2007, staging in one performance Shakespeare’s three Roman tragedies Coriolanus (1608), Julius Caesar (1599) and Antony and Cleopatra (1606-1607), in a veritable tour de force for the company Toneelgroep Amsterdam and the audience. It looks at the use of theatrical space and sets and actors to make the three, almost simultaneous performances work together or against one another, forcing the viewers to constantly make the connection between the relate d plots, trying to understand the director’s concept of the production and fully enjoying the spectacle.