Things are about to get bloody in this re-imagining of Shakespeare to be performed at the Mechanics Institute in Melbourne.

Heartstring proudly presents William Shakespeare’s dynamic tale Coriolanus. Featuring an all-female cast in their inaugural season, Heartstring will boldly march into the Melbourne independent theatre scene with their ambitious take on the bloody tale of power and pride.

Shakespeare’s dynamic tale takes the audience into a world where the Volscian Army marches on Rome, only for the warrior Coriolanus to drive them back. As the dust settles, she finds herself pressured into the snake pit that is a 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.

Heartstring has emerged with the intent of creating thought-provoking work, while actively addressing the shortage of roles for female actors on stage.

Elisa Armstrong, company member and co-founder, 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.”

Co-founder and company member Jo Booth adds, “Shakespeare is open to interpretation. His work is never presented exactly as it was done in the 17th century, and by casting women we aim to bring new relevance to his words and show women in a multidimensional light. If women can play any male Shakespearean character, the canon for roles available has suddenly become much wider. Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare’s most masculine plays, and we’re exploring how women take on qualities of rage, vulnerability and ferocity, and presenting them to a 2016 audience.”

This compelling reimagining of one of Shakespeare’s last tragedies takes a hyper-masculine world full of betrayal and deceit and flips it on its head. It is not to be missed.