Wicker Park is known as the home of all the necessary haunts of a true hipster: From the books at Myopic to the bands at Double Door, the air reeks of unfiltered American Spirits and appropriated tribal patterns. What most people do not expect among the sea of vegan restaurants and fixies, however, is a thriving theater scene. Sure, this theater skews toward the “experimental,” which can get weird. But among the spaces for performances artists and installation pieces, I found a Shakespearean classic imbued with new life.
Before attending Coriolanus at the Chopin Theatre in Bucktown, I attempted to re-read the play. This was neither quick nor painless, and I ended up throwing the book across my living room, declaring the entire endeavor “boring to the point of brain damage.” For those who have not had the distinct pleasure of slogging through this Roman history redux, Coriolanus tells the tale of a Roman military leader (first called Caius Martius, then surnamed Coriolanus) whose pride leads to his exile, and eventually, demise. Once I entered the intimate staging by The Hypocrites, however, I knew this play would not be the dry history I had attempted to read the night before.
I had expected The Hypocrites to do an “updated” version of Coriolanus in semi-fashionable costumes with 21st-century aesthetics. In this way, the Hypocrites did not disappoint. The set was a bare black box covered in twigs that gave it the ambiance of Where the Wild Things Are set in an Urban Outfitters. The costuming was less cohesive with a mix of MGMT-style youthfulness and an odd 19th-century Irish dynamic—although I recognized Virgilia’s dress from my local Urban store.
While the staging was appropriate for the Wicker Park audience, the intimate in-the-round setup did not yield the intense experience I was expecting. After being warned I was in the “splash zone” for some Monty-Python-esque fake blood, I was saddened when I left with an unstained sweater. That being said, The Hypocrites produced a unique blend of stylized dance-fighting and wrestling that was at times exciting, at others heart-wrenching. As a fan of WWE and Wrestlepocalypse, I appreciated the time and effort put in for the convincing small-scale battle scenes.
The acting did not translate as well to the small space as the fighting did, but there were still some standout performances. If Caius Martius had not been played by Steve O’Connell – who clearly believes Shakespeare must be played in the classical style, complete with chest-puffing and spitting — I would have thoroughly enjoyed the many monologues of the play. The portrayal of the titular Coriolanus’s mother Volumnia, by Donna McGough, as a poised scorpion waiting to strike was both beautiful and terrifying. Also, the rough-but-somehow-homoerotic Aufidius (as played by Jude Roche) was perhaps the most touching. His delivery of the execution order for Caius Martius showed both his military pride and his pain at killing a man whom he loves. Given the number of touching homoerotic moments between Martius and Aufidius, it was fitting that the longest and funniest penis jokes were cut from the script.
While The Hypocrites had some hiccups in their staging of Coriolanus, my journey into the Wicker Park theater scene taught me that good Chicago theater does not necessarily have to be in musical form, and that Shakespeare done in tiny, intimate settings can still be powerful. My hat is off to this new hipster William.
Coriolanus runs until April 23 at the Chopin Theatre on W. Division. Check The Hypocrites' website for dates and prices.