SOURCE: Isherwood, Charles. Review of Coriolanus. Variety 380, no. 5 (18 September 2000): 45, 47.

In the following excerpted review, Isherwood assesses director Jonathan Kent's 2000 production of Coriolanus at the Almeida Theatre in London, focusing on Ralph Fiennes's emotionally intense performance in the drama's title role.

There is [an] … emphasis on comedy in [Jonathan] Kent's Coriolanus. The play has at times been pegged as a satire, and Fiennes gives full and delicious scope to the warrior Coriolanus' wry, disgusted encounters with the Roman tribunes and the people. Also delightfully dry is Oliver Ford Davies as Menenius. … While great leaders rise and fall, and revolutions wax and wane, the subtle, unassuming performances of this capable actor suggest that there will always be men of intelligence, effort and good will who are ground beneath the wheels of the state even as they are instrumental in keeping it on course.

On the whole, the company fares far...