Fiennes Shines In Bard's Showcase





By Elysa Gardner
USA Today
September 12, 2000




BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- The film roles that have made Ralph Fiennes famous aren't types that inspire a warm, fuzzy feeling. From his Nazi commander in Schindler's List to his brooding romantic heroes in The English Patient and The End of the Affair, Fiennes seems to specialize in characters who aren't easy to embrace. But it's a measure of his talent, and his good taste in scripts, that he's always able to find the humanity in these elusive, troubled men, and ultimately make them sympathetic. -- or, in the Nazi's case, at least pathetic. Fiennes' new stage venture, a double bill of Shakespeare's Richard II and Coriolanus ( * * * out of four) that opened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Harvey Theatre last week, is at once a showcase for and a test of those skills. The title roles that the actor takes on in this London-based production -- staged by the Almeida Theatre Company, which previously featured Fiennes in Ivanov and Hamlet -- are among the Bard's least likable protagonists. Yet under the passionate direction of Jonathan Kent, and with the help of a vibrant cast, the actor once again -- twice again, actually -- reveals the vulnerability and even tenderness that can lurk inside the most imperious and seemingly impervious men.

In these witty tragedies, Fiennes also displays a comedic flair too rarely tapped in his screen outings. As Richard II, he is at first the picture of droll effeteness. Gesturing limply, rolling his eyes and even sticking out his tongue at one point, this tyrannical king comes across as a spoiled, petulant child -- a schoolyard bully abusing his inherited position on the throne. Fiennes has a worthy foil in the excellent Linus Roache, who as Richard's cousin and nemesis Henry Bolingbroke exudes a feral virility that emphasizes the extent to which this monarch is a whining sissy.

Before long, though, both Richard and Bolingbroke are shown to be more complex characters. Roache's righteous brio turns to scalding rage as Bolingbroke brings down the king and goes about destroying his supporters.

Among Bolingbroke's abettors are the Earl of Northumberland and his son, respectively portrayed by Robert Swann and Stephen Campbell Moore, who give brisk, ripe performances. Oliver Ford Davies is equally compelling as the more conflicted Duke of York, Richard's uncle.

As it becomes increasingly plain that Richard's kingdom is doomed, Fiennes makes him seem at once frantic and enervated. Once he is deposed and imprisoned, Richard's attempts to maintain belief in his God-given right to rule grow more heartbreaking than irritating; Fiennes' nuanced delivery -- which, like that of most of his fellow cast members, captures both the music and the substance of Shakespeare's language -- completes the king's arc of self-discovery with grace and grit.

The part of Coriolanus poses a trickier task, largely because this Roman warrior never achieves this self-awareness. It is a more grueling role physically, as well, requiring Fiennes to engage in a delirious duel -- with Roache, who is again superb as the lead character's rival, Aufidius -- and knock over a table featured in Paul Brown's stark, minimalist set. But this Coriolanus is perhaps most frightening when he's in a good mood, often after a triumphant spree of violence and bloodshed.

The most affecting scenes in this production, though, are those that pair Coriolanus with the one person he can't defeat: his domineering mother, Volumnia, played with bracing vigor by Barbara Jefford. The rapport between Jefford and Fiennes is especially poignant in the play's climactic scene, when Volumnia desperately entreats Coriolanus not to avenge Rome. Clinging to Jefford's legs, Fiennes' Coriolanus finally earns, if not our respect or affection, a certain degree of pity and compassion. The character may be a poor player, but the actor triumphs.

BAM's limited engagement of both plays ends Oct. 1.





 

Please visit the other link pages on this site:
Ralph Fiennes Links Page

 Ralph Fiennes Astrology Page

Back to the Jennifer Lash Links page
 

Back to the Ralph Fiennes - Jennifer Lash Main Page

This page was created with the Stonehenge.ttf font and is best enjoyed if you
have the font yourself.  If you want it please click on the green name Stonehenge.ttf above to download and install it to your PC.
Sorry not available for Mac's.  Thanks.
 

These pages are Copy written by Mary Sibley.  All rights reserved.
Please do not use anything within these pages without permission.
Please send an EMail to Mary Sibley for permission, thanks.