Showing @ Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh until Wed 21 Aug @ 19:30

In the aftermath of the Arab Spring and particularly in the week of the trial of Chinese politician Bo Xlai, a key theme of Shakespeare’s play – where the powerful draw their legitimacy from – has never been more prescient. That a production of this ‘political’ play should come from the People’s Republic is surprising, but at the same time it tells us much about how the country wants to be perceived.

Another surprise is the inclusion on stage of two Heavy Metal bands – Suffocated and Miserable Faith, which at first seems as incongruous as the idea sounds. But as battle scenes and riots play on stage they provide an effective soundtrack, the wailing guitars and powerful drumbeats becoming sound and signifying fury.

Metal is a bombastic musical form and perfectly matched to the performances on stage. Shakespeare tends to be underplayed in the west, but here, particularly in the performance of Pu Cunxin as the flawed hero, we have sweeping movements, supplications and even a bit of cape twirling going on. It might be perceived as over-the-top, but in a play where gestures, both literal and figurative, count for much, more is definitely more.

Jin Hao as Aufidius and Li Shilong and Fu Jia as the pair of rabble rousing tribunes who bring about Coriolanus’ banishment are not overawed by Cunxin’s grandstanding and neither, displaying a quiet strength, is Li Zhen as Volumnia, Coriolanus’s mother and the voice of political compromise that is heard too late.

Chinese productions often come to the UK pickled in cultural aspic. We’re used to the beautiful forms of Peking opera on our stages, but here Beijing People’s Art Theatre have produced a pumped up, rock fuelled version of Coriolanus that could easily have come from Europe or America. It’s possible that the Chinese government had some reservations about allowing this famously incendiary tale to travel, but in doing so they’ve laid the groundwork for a much broader perception of the country’s cultural voice.

Showing as part of the Edinburgh International Festival 2013