Titus Andronicus Review

After reading Titus Andronicus, I was sure the play was going to be too much blood and gore. With all the barbarous things going on in the play, it required frequent breaks when I was reading. Now, after watching the play presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company, I am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the play. There was so much comedy presented on stage that I had never registered while reading the play. Many scenes were incredibly effective due to the director’s creative changes and the musical timing.

First of all, I never expected the representation of Saturnius to be so humorous. When reading the play, he just seemed like a normal, relatively angry man. During the play, he was a bit of a fool and quite over the top. His lines were humorous in places that I had not expected. The greatest example was in Act 2, Sc. 3, lines 249 and 250. “Say, who are thou that lately didst descend into this gaping hollow of the earth?” when read does not sound amusing. But when said hesitantly, more like “Say…who are thou that lately didst descend into this…gaping…hollow…of the earth?” I found his presentation of thinking of what possibly to say to be quite funny.

Other instances of comedy were found in Titus himself. As he slowly appeared to become crazy, he became more and more amusing. It started, for me, with Act 3, Sc. 1 when he received his sons’ heads and began to listen to their heads that appear to communicate with him (lines 276-280). Another scene with a fair bit of humor was from Act 5, Sc. 2, where Tamora comes to Titus as Revenge with her sons in tow. Their act is made incredibly funny due to Demetrius and Chiron who spin around and moan like ghosts while the entire time Titus acts like a crazy person on purpose. The scene struck me because that was exactly how I had imagined it would go. The most humorous scene to me, as well as the strangest, was the banquet where Titus feeds the Demetrius and Chiron pie to those in attendance. First of all, he came out dressed in a maid outfit with a wig on, which was hilarious. Then the entire butchering scene was just funny chaos the entire time. Everyone was attacking everyone and basically everyone on stage got stabbed, whether or not they died from it. Lucius’s monologue was made so much funnier because of it. In Act 5, Sc. 3, lines 149-154, he is addressing a group of people saying “Thanks, gentle Romans” and “gentle people”, but everyone in the room but is uncle is dead. It was terrible to laugh at, but it was hard to resist.

I was very appreciative of the creative ideas and interpretations the director of the play put in. His decision to present Demetrius and Chiron so young, as just teenagers, was a wonderful idea and made a lot of sense. Aaron is the evident villain throughout the play as he instigates and initiates the early plot of the rape of Lavinia and the death of Bassianus that leads to the problems throughout the rest of the play. With the two sons of Tamora being so young, it makes more sense that Aaron was able to easily persuade them to do something as heinous as raping and mutilating Lavinia. If they had been older, one would think they would have shown some reserve. Also, in a strange twist, it can make one feel like they could almost be let off the hook a bit and all the blame can lie with Aaron for giving birth to the plan.

Something that was not in Shakespeare’s writing, but that the director put into the play to make it more interesting was the initiation of Lucius into the Goth’s nation. It happened very quickly, him coming to them and then being initiated, but that made it so much cooler. The scene was choreographed very well as far as timing is concerned. It was so riveting with the tribal music playing. It was a really great moment when they turned Lucius around to brand him and the lights and music all cut when one was expecting to hear his scream from pain. It sent such chills through me that I was so upset that intermission was occurring.

The greatest scene of the entire play came at the end. The director had already chosen to swap around Aaron and Lucius’s speeches from Act 5, Sc. 3. The decision was incredible and truly brought home the idea the play presents of things not changing. The concept that the cycle of death will only continue was clearly sent as Aaron states in lines 191 and 192, “If one good deed in all my life I did, I do repent it from my very soul” before Young Lucius comes on stage with Aaron’s child in his arms. The horrified look that crosses Aaron’s face can be felt and it shows that his words may be the death of his own child. When Young Lucius raises the cake knife before everything goes dark and the banging of the music occurs, one can feel the tension from seeing such a young boy ready to kill the baby. It was so striking and such a great interpretation from the director.

Titus Andronicus, I believe, was by far the best presented play that we saw during our stay in England. It was riveting, interesting, and very well presented. Though I expected to dislike the play for all the gore and blood and death, I walked out of the play very satisfied with what I had seen. This play, to me, shows that even the darkest plays can be fun (or funny). I truly felt like Shakespeare would have been proud of this performance of his play as I feel as if the message behind the play was shown right down to the very last second.