Thurs., 5/31/12: Coriolanus and the Corner Office

Coriolanus and the Corner Office

We’re taking about Shakespeare’s political drama, Coriolanus. The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company is staging it for this season’s Shakespeare on the Common.

Last week, as a kind of preview, a handful of Boston’s CEOs gathered on stage for a reading of this work. Why Coriolanus? Why CEOs? Demonstrations in the street, politicians jockeying for the loyalty of the populace, consolidation of wealth, tension between the "have's" and the have not's"-- sounds like our times. But this was the world of Shakespeare's "Coriolanus". With our presidential election in full swing, with an incumbent facing a tough challenge from a former CEO, this play has particular resonance today. We’ll talk to some of the business leaders who participated in the reading of Coriolanus for their thoughts on leadership, the intersection of business and politics, and the lessons that Coriolanus has to offer.

GUEST:
  Alicia Anstead, editor of Inside Arts magazine and Harvard Arts Beat blog
  Steve Maler, founding artistic director at Commonwealth Shakespeare Company
  Daniel Kelly, partner, McCarter and English, LLP
  Paul Grogan, president of the Boston Foundation
  James Roosevelt, president and CEO of Tufts Health Plan