Imperium, Swan Theatre, Stratford - review
They call it presence. Some actors have it, others don't. It has little to do with physical size or beauty and you could spend a lifetime trying to grasp it.
Alternatively, you could pop down to Stratford and see a six-hour masterclass in presence by one of Britain's finest stage actors, Richard McCabe.
From the moment he steps on the stage until the curtain falls, you simply cannot take your eyes off him. He commands the space, he speaks with unfailing clarity.
This production is something very special. Robert Harris' best-selling Cicero trilogy is staged as six plays presented in two performances. The books have been adapted by Mike Poulton who was responsible for the brilliant 2013 RSC adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. I'd be amazed if this, too, didn't end up as a TV drama.
McCabe plays Cicero, Consul of Rome and a lawyer from humble roots who is determined to clean up the city's politics. It is a fruitless task and we gradually see principles making way for pragmatism as the show trials and executions begin. Yet there is humour, too, with political gags which have changed little in 2,000 years: "Stupid people vote for stupid people."
Poulton's text is superb. It is modern English but with no jarring 21st centuryisms. You won't find any Downton-style "steep learning curves" in this ancient Rome.
Gregory Doran directs a fine cast with excellent performances, notably by Joseph Kloska as Tiro, Cicero's slave who tells the tale, and Peter de Jersey as a brooding, dangerous Julius Caesar.
But above all, this is a team success, polished to perfection by a cast who clearly love the script and relish the action. This is what theatre is all about and I can't think when I've seen anything finer.
Imperium is at Stratford until February 10.
