ABSTRACT
Of all the Shakespeare productions staged in Chinese mainland in the past thirty-seven years since that rst one (The Merchant of Venice) after the end of the Cultural Revolution, Coriolanus directed by Lin Zhaohua with Beijing People’s Art Theatre Company premiered 27 November 2007 under the Chinese title The Great General Kou Liulan, and revived for Edinburgh Festival August the year after, remains the most noteworthy for the singular reason that it seems to be the only one so far to have given rise to a discussion bearing on local politics.
