Billy McEntee

Coriolanus is not Shakespeare’s most compelling work, but this production’s standout actors, anchored by Belcher, could make you think otherwise. The plot includes war, politics and a civic uprising as the Roman general Coriolanus vanquishes the rival Volscians only to plead for their alliance when his arrogant refusal to display his battle wounds gets him banished from Rome. The ping-pong of allegiances threatens to get confusing, but director Ash K. Tata keeps the action clear and active, and projections by Lisa Renkel and Possible help define the locations. Other sequences are less clear; during battles, the video design sometimes becomes a muddled first-person shooter game, à la Call of Duty. But the performances are always crystalline.

As in the Oscar-winning Moonlight, McCraney unravels the nuances, vulnerabilities, and shimmering love that shape Black masculinity. In this stellar revival, the performances and production match the writer’s clarity.