Banaau - Cinema Teatro Flores, Vanzago

I've attended gigs on three different Pink Floyd tours where the staging has been impressive and could even be described as theatrical when applied to The Wall shows. While performances like those, in large capacity venues where your view of the band on stage may not be the best and are designed to maximise profit for the performers and promoters, I’ve always preferred smaller venues, which doesn’t preclude a genuine theatrical presentation, such as Goblin’s live soundtrack to a screening of Profondo Rosso at the Barbican Centre or going to see Genesis tribute act The Musical Box recreate The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Having been unaware that Höstsonaten had performed a version of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner with actors and dancers at Teatro Verdi in Genoa until I bought the CD/DVD in 2014, I set my sights on a performance of Cupid & Psyche with ballet dancers following the album’s release in 2016, only to arrive in the city the subsequent week, so until May 2024 the closest I’d come to an immersive theatrical rock gig was going to see Bill Nelson's Invisibility Exhibition at the Dominion Theatre over 40 years earlier.

One of the admirable aspects of progressive rock is how it bridges popular and high culture, exposing a wide audience to Western art music, incorporating diverse forms and borrowing ideas from literature, and Italian prog seems particularly adept at sourcing inspiration from classic texts; TS Eliot references can be found in at least four of the progressivo italiano bands represented in my collection, one of which is Hollowscene. Banaau, as Hollowscene, released the Hollowscene CD in 2018 which featured the Broken Coriolanus suite based on Shakespeare's Coriolanus and named after part of a stanza from ‘The Waste Land’.

I thoroughly enjoyed a Banaau performance in 2023 when a reformed sextet started gigging again following a period of instability which spanned the Covid restrictions, an event billed as ‘Progressive e Letteratura’, and happily signed up to 2024’s promised follow-up, ‘Broken Coriolanus Amore Orgoglio Potere’ (Love, Pride, Power) to be held in Vanzago, a small town north-west of Milan. This was first advertised during the preceding month as an intriguing post on Facebook, timed to coincide with the 460th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, announcing an event featuring music and theatre for a total ‘prog experience’. I'd never previously been to a concert where prog was interspersed with Shakespearean theatre and it was logistically relatively simple to attend. How could I resist?

The evening commenced with an as-yet unrecorded piece, Zeus, which had its public premiere at 2023’s Poesia in Musica festival in Arese, before the lights on the band dimmed and the actors, in contemporary dress took the stage for Act 2, scene 1 of the play, the inspiration for the opening piece of music of the Broken Coriolanus suite, Welcome to Rome, in which General Caius Martius is welcomed back to Rome by his family and the nobleman Menenius Agrippa where he was expected to be elected as a Consul after almost single-handedly defeating an army of Volscians in their home city of Corioli, earning him the name ‘Coriolanus’. The play’s first act isn’t covered by the music but an important part of the plot is that the ordinary citizens of Rome had been fomenting a revolt over a shortage of food, eventually placated by Menenius and Caius who accept that the citizens can be represented by two tribunes, Sicinius Velutus and Junius Brutus, although Caius despises the common people.

While introducing Menenius (played by Andrea Manenti), Sicinius (Daniele Taccani), Caius’ mother Volumnia (Marta Platania), Caius’ wife Virgilia (Francesca Salvoni) and Caius/Coriolanus himself (Alessandro Colombo) the small theatre group with their chorus of citizens made the scene quite a spectacle, preparing the audience for the band playing Welcome to Rome where the lyrics are taken from some of the text in Act 2, scene 1.

In Act 2, scenes 2 and 3 the Senate meet to hear praise for Coriolanus and as required, Coriolanus has to get the approval of the citizens before he can be appointed. Despite his disdain for the people, they initially give their consent but during scene 3, once Coriolanus and Menenius have left for the Senate, Sicinius speaks to a group of Roman citizens who realise Coriolanus has mocked them and move to withdraw their approval. The title for the second part of the musical suite comes from line 5 of scene 2 as two officers are discussing Coriolanus while preparing for the arrival of the Senators and the three candidates for the Consul post:

“That’s a brave fellow, but he’s vengeance
proud and loves not the common people.”

The third part of the play, from Act 3, scenes 1, 2 and 3, introduces the character of Titus Lartius, a Roman officer (Matteo Agresti). Coriolanus finds out that the people have revoked their consent and rails against the decision to allow the people to be represented by tribunes, causing Sicinius to accuse Coriolanus of treason and demanding that he be executed. Menenius rescues Coriolanus but has to take him to the marketplace to face the tribunes and with the aid of Volumnia, persuades Coriolanus to pretend to tolerate Sicinius and the people. Unfortunately, Coriolanus is unable to maintain the deception when he’s branded a traitor and though Sicinius calls for his execution, his punishment is commuted to exile in recognition of his service to Rome. The scene ends with the crowd ensuring that Coriolanus leaves the city, the cue for the track Traitor.

Following a short intermission the play recommenced at Act 4, scene 4 where Coriolanus, in disguise, has gone in search of his enemy the Volscian commander Aufidius (Francesco Pacificato) in order to form a pact and declare war on Rome. The piece ends with Sicinius, Menenius and the people receiving news that Coriolanus and Aufidius are on Roman soil. The first lyrics of Slippery Turns are taken from Coriolanus’ speech before he meets with Aufidius, an admission of his treachery and an understanding that Aufidius has every right to kill him. The track takes an unexpected departure with a passage from the C15 Japanese musical drama Atsumori by Zeami Motokiyo, possibly highlighting Coriolanus’ acceptance that he might suffer death at the hands of Aufidius:

"A human’s life span of 50 years is like a dream compared to the age of the heavens. Is there anything that only lives once and does not perish?"

The final part of the theatrical performance was from the last four scenes of the play, providing the words for the longest part of the Broken Coriolanus suite, Rage and Sorrow. Coriolanus and Aufidius have entered Rome and Volumnia and Virgilia attempt to persuade them to spare the city, succeeding despite Coriolanus’ hatred for the city. He decides to return to Corioli but Aufidius realises he has been used; many of his fellow tribesmen have been killed during the incursions on Rome, by the hand of Coriolanus or in service to him, so he plots with co-conspirators (Andrea Bovone and Stephan Haban) to execute Coriolanus when they are back in Corioli. The play ends with Coriolanus’ murder and Aufidius expressing sorrow that Coriolanus had to die.

Mixing passages of the play with the music inspired by Shakespeare’s scenes was the realisation of a dream for guitarist Andrea Massimo and I thought the entire production worked really well. I’m a big fan of the music, with its hints of early 70s Genesis, and the musicianship was excellent. In an interesting twist, the play was presented in Italian (the song lyrics, basically the playwright’s text, are in English) so the audience didn't have to have any expertise in either prog or Shakespearean English. My limited Italian wasn't a hindrance as I had an understanding of the play's plot and I could pick up some of the words, but passionate performances by the actors ensured my full attention. Despite limited rehearsal time everything went seamlessly. The theatre had really good acoustics which meant Francesca Di Natale's work on the live sound was comparatively straightforward, resulting in a really well-balanced mix where all the layers of instrumentation were distinct, thanks to the band preferring subtlety over power.

It would be fair to say that the evening was a great success. The hall was close to full and the audience responded enthusiastically to both the acting and the music, without contemplating the uniqueness of the event - which I personally thought was a good reason for making my way from Croydon to attend. Everyone who was involved in the production deserves congratulations but I'd like to add my thanks to all the members of Banaau who were willing to chat openly after the concert, especially maestro Andrea Massimo and Paolo Callioni who gave me a lift back to my hotel at the end of the evening.

I wonder what’s in store next year?!