Alf Sjöberg's production of William Shakespeare's Coriolanus premiered at Dramaten in Stockholm on April 25, 1970. The director was Alf Sjöberg and the set design was created by Sivert. The Swedish text was a translation by Britt G. Hallqvist. The production was performed 29 times.

"Shakespeare wrote Coriolanus around 1605–1608. The tragedy is primarily based on Plutarch's account of the legendary Roman general Gaius Marcius Coriolanus. The drama is set during the early Roman Republic and revolves around the conflict between patricians and plebeians, between military honor and political leadership, and between individual pride and the collective.

After a period of famine, Rome's plebeians protest against the grain shortage and the patricians' power. They gain the right to appoint tribunes of the people, but the aristocratic warrior Caius Martius views the people's demands with contempt. When Rome goes to war against the Volscians, Martius distinguishes himself through his bravery during the conquest of the city of Corioles. As an honorific, he is given the name Coriolanus.

After the victory, Coriolanus returns to Rome as a war hero. His mother Volumnia encourages him to run for consul, but his contempt for the plebeians makes it difficult for him to participate in the political game. When the tribunes of the people Brutus and Sicinius turn public opinion against him, he eventually loses his position and is banished from Rome.

Coriolanus then seeks out his former enemy, the Volscian commander Tullus Aufidius, and they unite in a campaign against Rome. When the Roman city is threatened, several people try to persuade him to abandon his revenge. Finally, his mother Volumnia, together with his wife Virgilia and other relatives, succeeds in convincing him to spare Rome. However, the decision leads to his downfall: Aufidius and the Volscians consider him a traitor and kill him. In Sjöberg's production, Aufidius was portrayed by Heinz Hopf.

Sivert's set design is particularly interesting given his dual background in art and architecture. Lindblom had studied at the Royal Institute of Art, worked for the architect Sigurd Lewerentz, and later at Peter Celsing's architectural office. Coriolanus from 1970 is included in Lindblom's own list of his set design works.

The performance was part of a long series of Shakespeare interpretations by Alf Sjöberg at Dramaten. Sjöberg went on to direct a total of sixteen Shakespeare productions at the national stage, and Coriolanus was the only production of this particular play there during the 20th and 21st centuries. /JÖ

Who was Gaius Coriolanus? https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolanus