Come for the family fun... stay for the pie.

I attended a production of Titus Andronicus last night, to see a good friend take on the lead (Titus as a woman; I’m down with it). The weather was perfect for it- slight autumn chill, with a little rain in the air. The theatre was a nice little hole in the wall, exposed brick situation, were your right in the middle of the action. I love small theatres like this. So juicy. And the program peaked my interest even more, with the bold promise:
“…an ambitious program of shows, in which nearly all of the Bard’s great works will be ruthlessly mutilated, bent, battered, cut to ribbons and otherwise manhandled…” it went on to add: “…Shakespeare scholars will faint, literature hounds will blanch in horro as the indie theater impresario mercilessly bodyslams the venerated playwright’s finest and most beloved works with no regard whatsoever to the rules of etiquette, theater, or fair play!” And even dared to say: “…virtually guaranteed to p*** off (their self censorship) just about everybody!”

Wow. Okay. Bring it! Shakespeare’s been around some 400 years, he could use a challenge. I’m no stranger to avant-garde theatre- I’ve seen and done some pretty messed up things in Shakespeare and other classics (I’ve smoked a tampon in Lysistrata, witnessed an all female Richard III, twirled a hoola-hoop in A Winter’s Tale, and just missed a production of Hamlet, where the ‘to be, or not to be’ speech was delivered by spray painting it onto a plastic curtain). I eagerly awaited the assault.

Sadly, none of the director’s claims even came close to the promises made. What I actually saw was a fairly conventional production, with some loud music, and TV monitors, accompanying a poorly lit stage. Cut’s were made, and a few liberties taken with some of the lines… but nothing outrageous, or even clever.

I should have know- when your program boasts that this production is “virtually guaranteed to p*** off just about everybody!” How can I take you seriously when you censor the word piss off? I guess I should be pissed off by that alone… but I’m not; just a little disappointed and slightly annoyed.

I did find the director to be spot on about one thing thought: In his bio he said: “[the director] has been pumping out loud, excessive, almost entirely pointless theater in various NYC venues for over 10 years…”. I may be wrong, but I think this was meant to be self-effacing humor, and not sad fact. The directing in this production was pointless, full of muddy staging, chorus lines, and misguided production values.

However…

I am happy to say, the actors were a nice surprise. I will credit the director with being able to people his production with some damn talented folk. There were a few other ‘non-traditional’ casting choices- changing male characters into female- but it was never a distraction. Titus was a woman, and so was her brother (now a sister).
It was all well played, so we accepted what we saw before us. We watched their journey through this horrific story, and never minded what their sex was. Well done.

So while my expectations of a true avant-garde experience were terribly let down, I did enjoy a nice production of Titus, with some solid performances. At one point when Titus is confronted by Tamora, and her sons, disguised as Revenge, rape and murder, she says to them: “How like the Empress and her sons you are”. The line was so quietly, and coldly delivered that I swear and icicle had been dragged across my spine. I wanted to clime out of my skin!
Another highlight: The scene where Tamara’s sons are slaughtered, had Titus straddling the lap of a bound and naked Demetrius, slicing open his throat in a frightening euphoric ecstasy of revenge. If only they’d been allowed stage blood… then again, that might have been overkill- from what I saw, there was enough emotional blood pouring out of Titus’s looks to turn the stage into a sea of blood (think elevator scene in the Shining).

And later… when you could actually smell the meat pie that was brought on stage (made up of Tamara’s two sons)… some guy next to me looked like he was going to be sick.

Well done Kymberly, and company. Sorry about the director.