Featuring an all female cast in their inaugural season, Heartstring boldly marches into the Melbourne independent theatre scene with their ambitious take on Shakespeare’s bloody tale of power and pride; Coriolanus.
Running from the 27th of April to the 8th of May at the Brunswick Mechanics Institute, Heartstring have emerged with the intent of creating thought provoking work, while actively addressing the shortage of roles for female actors on our stages.
Company member and co-founder Elisa Armstrong explains, “We believe that women have been underrepresented on stage since Thespis first stepped out of the Chorus. The talented female actors of Melbourne have been designated roles of shrieking harpy and mute girlfriend for far too long. At Heartstring we aim to present all the facets of women by always having more than 50% of the roles being played by women.”
Shakespeare’s dynamic tale of Coriolanus takes us into a world where the Volscian Army marches on Rome, only for the warrior Coriolanus to drive them back. As the dust settles, though, she finds herself pressured into the snake pit that is political office. With famine threatening and jealous tribunes plotting against her, Coriolanus discovers that the will of people cannot be so easily beaten back with swords…