Political Desk

If gasoline prices have not eviscerated your summer travel plans, seriously consider a trip to Ashland to see the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s production of “Coriolanus,” which runs through Nov. 2. I’ve seen few performances in my life that I would call genuinely volcanic, and Danforth Comins’ work in the title role of this infrequently staged Shakespeare play qualifies.

It’s a clever pick for 2008 — with politics in everyone’s face, OSF opted for one of Shakespeare’s most political plays.

Loosely based on the real-life Roman warrior, Coriolanus is brilliant in battle, but painfully out of his element when navigating the political minefield of the Roman Senate. He despises common people, yet refuses to accommodate himself to the hypocrisy and opportunism that governs political life by ingratiating himself with the ruling classes.

Bottom line, Coriolanus spends much of the play in a mood that could best be described using a few of the late George Carlin’s famous seven words.

Comins’ performance is so staggering in its intensity that I found myself in awe not simply of his acting, but of the sheer physical and vocal stamina required to pull it off. Following the performance my wife and I saw, Comins looked as if he had run a triathlon and with a few rounds of boxing thrown in.

Director Laird Williamson and his production team stage “Coriolanus” in the round, giving it a look that blends current-day with mid-20th century Europe. The action is fast and furious, and for the many battle scenes, the intimacy of the New Theater will have you feeling like you’ve stumbled onto the set of a “Die Hard” movie.

“Coriolanus” is frequently termed one of Shakespeare’s “minor” plays, but no one who sees this production would dream of using the word. It’s an intellectually meaty play, exploring issues of class and patriotism, while also providing plenty of battlefield spectacle, which is staged remarkably well. It is also, particularly near the end, deeply emotional. The scene in which Coriolanus’ mother (Robynn Rodriguez) and wife (Mahira Kakkar) plead with him to not reject Rome is one of the most powerful I’ve seen in any of the Bard’s tragedies at OSF. Comins’ performance, meanwhile, is the theatrical equivalent of a bunker buster blast.

If you possibly can, see it.