Populist uprisings, widening inequality and a polarisation between the polish of traditional, tactical politicians and the frankness of a new breed of leftfield, unembellished leaders. Sound familiar? It’s actually the basis for a Shakespeare play set around 493-488 BC, in the early days of the Roman Empire. 

As the RSC concludes its epic Rome season by going back to the beginning of the saga in Coriolanus, we spoke to Sope Dirisu, who plays the production’s titular hero - or perhaps in this case, another term might be more fitting?

“He’s not a hero,” says Dirisu. “I would even call a character like Macbeth a hero, for example, because although things don’t turn out great for him, it’s easy to understand his motivation and why what happens to him happens. But Coriolanus is different. He’s not sympathetic, which is possibly one of the reasons why the play isn’t put on all that often.”

It’s 10 years since Coriolanus was last staged by the RSC - this despite its political potency and gripping plot. The play is action-packed right from the off, with an opening scene featuring plebeian rebels marching on the Capitol to demand a fair share of the grain being kept there. As the smooth-talking, popular Menenius attempts to defuse the situation, military top dog Caius Martius (later dubbed Coriolanus in honour of his victory at Corioli) returns from battle, making no attempt to disguise his complete contempt for the protesters. As cold and merciless in the city as he is on the battlefield, Martius is equally despised by the people. Yet though his bluntness, lack of compassion and smug superiority are ultimately his ruin, there are some qualities in him, thinks Dirisu, that deserve to be emulated. 

“Politically, it’s a bit of a firestarter. In rehearsals, we’ve been referring back to that slip that Gordon Brown made when he called someone a ‘bigoted woman’. And I mean, he wasn’t lying. But unfortunately, politics has turned into a popularity contest, rather than a contest of principles or ideologies, and I think that’s exactly what Coriolanus stands up to. He knows who he is and doesn’t see any reason to deflect from that for the benefit of anybody else.

“On the other hand, I suppose Menenius is a better representative of the politicians we have who will tell us what we want to hear while doing something completely different in the background. I think maybe in an ideal world you would have more Coriolanuses - people who were honest about their views so you could elect them accordingly. But in order for that to happen, everyone needs to be a lot more engaged in politics than they currently are.”

Things have taken a turn for the apocalyptic in the Rome depicted by director Angus Jackson and designer Robert Innes Hopkins, in what promises to be a thrilling season finale. It might seem odd to finish with the first chapter of Shakespeare’s Roman story, but there’s a method in their madness. 

“The idea is that it’s a bit further on from Titus, which was basically set in the present day. We’re looking at a future where war has ravaged the earth to the point where we’ve reduced sovereignty to city-states rather than countries, in much the same way as it was around 500 BC. It’s going to be a lot barer than the previous productions - I think Rob is really excited to use the cavernous space of the stage, and we’ll be using a lot of height with different levels to help the audience feel the size of the play and the arguments it puts forward.”

It’s a novel way of approaching the narrative that calls attention to the cyclical nature of history, reinforcing the parallels between the Classical world and our own time. It’s also interesting to consider what might survive of a culture after the civilisation that produced it has crumbled. 

“Rather than going for something that looks like post-nuclear fallout, we’re going to maintain the class divide. The difference between those who are privileged and those who aren’t will be clearly coded into the costumes.”

It’s not just the design that will provide a through-link across the season. As with previous shows, audiences can expect a level of involvement in the conversations taking place on stage. 

“As a performer on a thrust stage, you have to have a lot of spatial awareness, making sure everyone can see your face and hear your voice, but the joy of it is that the audience is your audience in the story, rather than using a crowd of actors on stage. For the speeches in the Senate, we have this idea of the Scottish Parliament or the UN, where everyone’s sat in a semicircle, in a similar formation to Roman amphitheatres, or the RST auditorium.”

Returning to Stratford after starring in Pericles as part of the RSC’s Open Stages project in 2013, Dirisu has seen his career blossom over the last four years, encompassing roles in Channel Four’s Utopia and Humans. Having studied Economics at the University of Birmingham, he went through college still uncertain about his future, until his RSC role finally convinced him that acting might be worth pursuing. It was, in his own words “the beginning of a journey”, on which Coriolanus is yet another step. But though he still has friends in the area who he’ll be visiting from time to time, his plan for now is to make the most of the opportunity he’s been given. 

“I think it was Judi Dench who described Stratford as a bubble. It feels so far away from the outside world, which means you can come here and focus on your craft and on Shakespeare and the company. For as long as I’ve wanted to be an actor at the RSC, that sense of company and community has been really important to me, so I’m going to treasure every moment of it.”

Coriolanus shows at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, from Friday 15 September to Saturday 14 October.

Interview by Heather Kincaid