Titus Andronicus
By William Shakespeare
rear: Titus, front: Lavinia, Tamara, Saturninus
Directed by Blanche McIntyre
Designer Robert Innes Hopkins
Music by Tim Sutton
Royal Shakespeare Company
Stratford-upon-Avon
Saturday 26th August 2017 13.15
CAST:
Stefan Adegbola – Aaron
Joseph Adelakun – Mutius
Kristin Atherton – Nurse
Will Bliss – Clown
David Burnett- Quintus
Paul Dodds – Goth
Patrick Drury -Marcus Andronicus
Nia Gwynne – Tamora, Queen of the Goths
Sean Hart- Demetrius
Martin Hutson – Saturninus
Amber James – Goth / Midwife
Tom Lorcan – Matius
Luke McGregor – Chiron
Tom McCall- Lucius
Hannah Morrish – Lavinia
Anthony Ofoegbu – Emilius
Dharmesh Patel – Bassianus
Jon Tarcy – Alarbus
David Troughton – Titus Andronicus
Marcello Walton – Publius
It’s a play I’d always missed out in those “Name every Shakespeare play” games (some) drama students used to play. I was better at naming fifty U.S. States, and often got to forty-six or forty-seven. Titus Andronicus was down there with Pericles and Troilus & Cressida, the ones that barely registered on the radar, except it had a footnote: weird with cannibalism. It was popular in its day, but apparently the era of bloody revenge tragedies was the 1590s and by 1614 it was already considered old-fashioned. The programme has notes on George Peele, who probably wrote Act one, Act two, scene one and Act four scene one. Wikipedia (where I got those facts) adds other suggestions that it was earlier than the usual 1592 attribution, and it might even be Shakespeare’s first play.
I haven’t seen so many empty seats at a Stratford matinee before. You’d easily walk in on the day. Bank holiday weekend? Late in the run? Maybe, but Quentin Letts review notes I have never seen a Stratford theatre so un-full, and that was published 7th July right at the beginning of the run.
The play fell out of favour for centuries until Peter Brooks revived it in 1955. The BBC Shakespeare TV productions left it to #37 out of 37. It has been of greater interest in recent years, most notably in Lucy Bailey’s magnificent Globe productions, playing it as spectacle, in 2006 and 2014.
The rapes, cutting off of tongues and hands, draining bodies of blood like slaughtered pigs, casual murders – fourteen get killed, without any battle scenes – and finally cannibalism were a problem for earlier audiences. Now we know that’s what happens and worse, which is why the trend (which Lucy Bailey bucked at the Globe) is to draw modern parallels and give it a contemporary setting. Commendably, Blanche McIntyre declined to draw specific parallels but make it a universal “now” … yes, not even a Trump joke. If only the print programme had been so restrained.
It’s part of the RSC Rome season, so utilises the pillars and steps of Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra, but glazes between the pillars, making it look like a modern building, reminding of how many public buildings have a classical theme. Then there’s a black metal security fence shutting off that area from the thrust stage. A lectern and microphone are on the steps.
The youths assail the fence
We are in Rome in an indefinite time frame … but the Goths invasion sets it near the end of Empire. The play starts here with a pre-show of hooded youths and then looters and police officers crossing the stage, at first with house lights up, in ones and twos with people still coming in to the seats. The police chase and arrest an innocent black guy (prefacing the attitudes in the play to Aaron, the Moor). Banners read “Austerity Kills”. That breaks into a dance routine with two gangs and a set of police officers, The Jets and the Sharks whispered my companion, and yes, it was very West Side Story with stunning Bernstein-esque music to match.
Titus returns from the wars, ashes of his sons in caskets
The youths are supporters of either Saturninus (Martin Hutson) or Bassianus (Dharmesh Patel), the sons of the deceased Emperor. Primogeniture hasn’t been established, so there’s a choice. The two candidates are marked by Saturninus’ sharp electric blue smart suit versus Bassianus’ casual hoodie gear. The tribunes and returning officer scurry about trying to decide what to do, when Titus (David Troughton) arrives, back from the wars, accompanied by a brass uniformed band, well two trumpets, two trombones, drums, cymbals and triangle. His three surviving sons carry the ashes of several deceased ones. Trailing after him are his Goth prisoners, so predictably in Guantanamo overalls. They’re led by Tamara, Queen of the Goths (Nia Gwynne), with her three sons. Titus has one Goth son summarily executed in spite of her pleas. The cycle of revenge is established. Her two other hulking sons are Demetrius (Sean Hart) and Chiron (Luke McGregor).
L to R: Lavinia (Hannah Morrish), Saturninus (Martin Hutson), Titus Andronicus (David Troughton)
Titus gets the job of deciding the election, and in spite of a nasty tantrum from Saturninus, who is the first born, chooses him. In return, Saturninus offers to marry Titus’ daughter, Lavinia (Hannah Morrish). But then the nasty new emperor spots Queen Tamara at the side, and decides to do a political switch and marry Tamara instead. As Saturninus is a callow youth, and Tamara has adult sons, we can deduce that she is far older than him, but a particularly sexy woman … the casting failed to reflect that age gap. Bassianus decides to nip off with Lavinia, and her brothers intervene to let them, one of whom then gets shot by Titus for disobedience. Well, when you’ve got twenty-one sons as Titus had, most killed in war, one more or less makes little difference. A few minutes in, and we have two corpses. There’s excellent, amusing games with the mic, with Saturninus summoning Titus to use it … David Troughton as ever, is superb.
Having been pushed to prominence by Titus, who refused the crown himself because of his age, Saturninus then turns on him and humiliates the family. It was all going extremely well. Sounds, blocking, costumes. What I particularly noted was Paul Dodds as the Returning Officer, back in the glass doorway, muttering fevered instructions into a head mic, reacting to the political drama, being left holding a bunch of flowers, at one point bursting for a pee, iPad in hand, but unable to leave. Silent background acting of the year award for me!
Demetrius (Sean Hart), Chiron (Luke McGregor) in Goth brotherly play
We discover that Tamara is actually having it off with Aaron, a dastardly Moor (Stefan Adegbola). If you think Othello has race issues, you haven’t seen Aaron. He is a personification of evil and treachery. Aaron knows that Demetrius and Chiron lust after Lavinia (good title for a 60s girl’s name pop song … Lusting for Lavinia). The Demetrius / Chiron bickering fight was extremely well done, and I loved Demetrius’s silent but mouthed “Oh, fuck off!” as he exited.
Lavinia is captured: Demetrius (Sean Hart), Chiron (Luke McGregor), Tamara (Nia Gwynne), Lavinia (Hannah Morrish)
The three plan to get Bassianus and Lavinia in a quiet place, murder Bassianus, and then rape Lavinia. This is the shock horror scene, though the actual rape happens off stage, she comes on, her hands cut off, her tongue cut out, covered in blood.
Lavinia (Hannah Morrish) and Bassianus (Dharmesh Patel) before everything goes wrong
We had heard of people fainting (I can see why … it was horrific in detail with her trousers and blood drenched pants around her ankles). Unaccountably someone behind us started snoring loudly during this scene, then left a few minutes later, not to return. I will say that falling asleep and waking to see the bloodied Lavinia must have been one hell of a shock. Anyway, Lavinia is found by her uncle, Marcus Andronicus (Patrick Drury). That’s terribly poignant as he pulls her clothing back up. Troughton’s speech when they meet up is the highpoint of the production.
Titus (David Troughton) “What shall we do!”
To add to the horror, the Goth Bros frame two of Titus’ sons with the killing, and then the emperor’s hunting party turns up and arrests them. Aaron tricks Titus into believing that if he cuts his own hand off, the sons will be spared. Marcus and the surviving son, Lucius, offer to have their hands cut off instead.
The amputation scene
The amputation is horrific, because it is undertaken very realistically by two uniformed nurses. I was reminded of Gaddafi’s Libya, which reintroduced amputation for theft, but did it in a hospital under anaesthetic. Is that simply more merciful, or more horrific by mixing medieval barbarism with modern surgery? A brilliant touch here and the trick is performed with skill, so we see his hand in a kidney dish. It almost seems to writhe. Maybe it does. Then the sons heads are delivered to him in blood-drenched plastic bags, as is Titus hand. In a bizarre moment, Lavinia has to carry one off in her teeth. Going back, I saw notes that even in the most dramatic productions, that line could draw OTT laughter. I didn’t hear any.
At the interval, I was mentally choosing between four stars and five stars. I thought it was great … at that point.
The second half perplexed me. We have a domestic scene around a kitchen table with Titus, Marcus, Lucius, Lavinia and Lucius’ son, Lucius jnr. This is vital. The lad has Ovid’s Metamorphisus for homework. Lavinia has an idea … she can point to the rape of Philomela in the book. Marcus covers the table with salt (sand in the text), so she can hold a stick in her stumps and draw the names of her rapists.
Aaron (Stefan Adegbola ) & Tamara (Nia Gwynne)
We know Titus now seeks revenge. Aaron comes into greater prominence … a Bowdlerized and popular 19th century adaptation had made him the central character. Tamara’s baby has been delivered and is black. Aaron resists suggestions to do away with the child, and instead murders the nurse and asks for the midwife to be sent to him too. She will suffer the same fate. A baby swap is organized. Stefan Adegbola was extremely good in the role. One review questioned the colour blindness … why is everyone against the Moor when two of Titus’ sons are black & Asian? I’m usually sharp on excessive colour blindness, but it was fine … Titus had twenty-one sons (let alone how many daughters) so we assume he had had multiple wives in his travels. A mild cop-out, is that if you’re going for modern dress and you need an evil Arab character in 2017 … well, OK, I’d’ve copped out of that possibility too. Aaron gets almost the last line of the play, delivered perfectly with enormous power here:
If one good deed in all my life I did,
I repent it to my very soul.
That is so strong, because in such a world as that of the play, what else makes sense? Otherwise, it’s a play devoid of memorable quotes.
Then it all went pear-shaped for me. Titus is feigning madness so as to lure Saturninus and Tamara to dinner. The Andronicus family (sorry, calling them the Andronici in a review is too precious) appear in toy grey plastic breastplates, and toy bows are distributed. Funny? I didn’t hear anyone laugh. It was a desperately bad idea. Dire in concept, dire in execution, undermining all the mood that had been built up. Then we have Tamara dressed as a goddess talking to a naked Titus who’s in a cardboard box, accompanied by Chiron and Demetrius with stockings over their heads. I couldn’t believe how much these two scenes destroyed the production.
OK, not all agree with me. Michael Billington in The Guardian said:
It is the clash between a discredited militaristic imperialism and a new barbaric individualism that fuels a production full of witty touches: I liked how the messenger Titus uses to send a missive to the emperor works for a firm called Deliveroma.
I considered it neither witty, nor funny. Just another dud clown scene that really should have been cut. Even worse, then Saturninus appears in Superman jim-jams. Martin Hutson is a fabulous actor who has not only had a magnificent season at Stratford, but who created a credible vicious twitchy Saturninus, yet after all that work, he is given a downright daft costume for a cheap laugh. Which it totally failed to get.
Actually, the best comic acting in Part Two was Anthony Ofoegbu as Emilius, the constantly worried messenger and equerry.
They managed to claw back drama with the deaths of Demetrius and Chiron, hoisted upside down in chains, throats slit so Lavinia can collect the blood in a bowl. Black pudding’s on the menu. I didn’t envy them being hoisted the height of the auditorium by their ankles.
The memorable scene is where Titus in chef’s gear serves Goth-son pie to Saturninus and Tamara. Nice touches. Especially Marcus quickly giving Lucius salad instead. The one big laugh from the additions was David Troughton picking up the serving spoon as a phone and saying “Don’t call me at work…” Then the ending is too drawn out, though Lucius’s final speech into the mic is well-judged and cleverly done.
There were a lot of references or ideas from other recent productions. The two falsely-accused dead sons become characters in the capture of Demetrius and Chiron. Then they spend several minutes hanging on the fencing grill, just like McIntyre’s Two Noble Kinsmen last year. The dead assemble to watch the action, one of several ideas the RSC has re-used. Having Demetrius and Chiron in swimming costumes with a pool? The National Theatre’s Twelfth Night this year.
I have a current knee problem. I watched Troughton getting up and down and standing and thought his “painful knee acting” was perfectly executed. My companion thought he shared my knee problem. I disagree, he’d never have got through the play if he had.
If you are bringing the play up to date, then you have to take the subject matter seriously. Yet no one except Uncle Marcus has any sympathy with Lavinia, and Titus ends up with doing an honour killing, in all but name. At times it seemed they were serious, but cheap laughs undermined any serious intent and left me wondering why it was swinging about stylistically. Yes, you can play it for gory laughs, as Pulp Fiction-The Pantomime. Or you can regard it as horrific. They fail to juggle both.
Overall? I’m with Domenic Cavendish and Quentin Letts on three stars. Several performances within it are 4 to 5 star … Troughton and Hutson both clear fives. As is the music.
But those silly dire would-be-funny scenes in Part Two are a one star, and a failure to commit to a definite interpretation screwed it for me.
***
LENGTH
The cast list said 2 hours 45 minutes plus 20 minutes interval. I reckon the pre-show was under way by 1.12. We stood up at 4.32. That’s three hours playing time. Too long. A LOT of stuff in the second half could and should have been cut. Did it grow in length in production? Well, reviews from early July say “3 hours 10 minutes including interval” so it has added ten minutes.
MUSIC
Suffice it to say, I bought the Soundtrack CD in the interval. Mind you, last year these instant OST CDs were a fair £5. This year they’re £8, which for 24 minutes is a silly price. At £5 it’s an impulse purchase. At £8, you stop and think. Bad pricing decision.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAID
5
Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard *****
4
Michael Billington, The Guardian ****
Blanche McIntyre’s striking new production confirms what many of us have long thought: that Shakespeare’s goriest play is also a masterly study of the nature of grief. Even the decision to play it in modern dress is justified by the fact that the play is not about a historical Rome but about a civilisation in terminal decline.
Dominic Maxwell, The Times ****
The first half is often plain nasty, but the second half here takes us somewhere inventive and grimly funny
Natasha Tripney, The Stage ****
Shakespeare’s messy and excessive early play, Titus Andronicus, poses a number of problems for directors. Tonally, it’s all over the place, at once horrific and absurd. Blanche McIntyre’s typically scrupulous production, the third instalment in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Rome season, strives to be both – and succeeds.
3
Domenic Cavendish, Telegraph ***
Titus is hardly Shakespeare’s finest hour (TS Eliot thought it “one of the stupidest and most uninspired plays ever written”) but there are times when Troughton appears trapped in a patchy, slightly studenty production of an iffy play. Which isn’t quite as it should be.
Quentin Letts, Daily Mail ***
Director Blanche McIntyre, in her leaden way, is suggesting that today’s political uncertainties are mirrored in Shakespeare’s play. A less didactic director would let us work that out for ourselves.
Ian Shuttleworth, Financial Times ***
OTHER VERSIONS OF TITUS ANDRONICUS on this blog:
The Globe, 2014, directed by Lucy Bailey
BLANCHE McINTYRE
The Two Noble Kinsmen, RSC 2016
Noises Off, Nuffield, Southampton, 2016
As You Like It, Globe 2015
Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, Brighton, 2015
The Comedy of Errors, Globe 2014
The Seagull, Headlong / Nuffield 2013
Many of the cast appear in this season’s other ROME plays:
Julius Caesar, RSC 2017
Antony & Cleopatra, RSC 2017
DAVID TROUGHTON
The Shoemaker’s Holiday, RSC
King Lear, RSC 2016
MARTIN HUTSON
Julius Caesar, RSC 2017 (Cassius)
Antony & Cleopatra, RSC 2012 (Caesar)
NIA GWYNNE
King Lear, RSC 2016, Goneril
Henry IV Parts I & II, RSC 2015
DHARMESH PATEL
Julius Caesar, RSC 2017
Antony & Cleopatra, RSC 2017
Cymbeline, Wanamaker Playhouse 2015 (Soothsayer, Philario)
The Tempest, Wanamaker Playhouse 2015 (Ferdinand)
Two Gentlemen of Verona, Wanamaker Playhouse 2016 (Proteus)
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