titus.txt

http://www.nightnews.net/fringe2008.htm#titus

Titus Andronicus - Action to the Word
venue :: C
see links :: http://www.actiontotheword.co.uk/titus_home.html
http://www.actiontotheword.co.uk/
http://uk.youtube.com/user/Action2theWord
category :: Theatre
Reviewed date :: 25 08 08

Review: As a suitably bloody and dark show on which to end the 
2008 Fringe, Titus Andronicus would have been hard to beat. Action
to the Word's production features the most minimalist black and 
white staging, perhaps to provide a better contrast with the blood,
gore and general horrors for which the play is best known. The 
pace of the action tends to a gallop through the play and for this
reason it demands a high degree of concentration if the audience 
is to keep up with and make sense of the text and well-populated
plot. At first, the production succeeded in maintaining a real 
dramatic tension with the audience and they seemed truly horrified
at the rape and graphic mutilation of Lavinia. There is a rock 
element injected into this production and the scene shortly after
the violent assault on Lavinia where she is wheeled about in a 
shopping trolley to a 'Madness' track rates as one of the creepiest
and most disturbing moments in the play. Though the violence and 
blood initially had a real 'Ew' factor, this aspect of the production
seemed to go beyond to slapstick gore and eventually achieved an 
unreal 'Pythonesque' satirical, comedy quality. For instance the 
murder of the nurse by Aaron, the execution of the clown by the 
Emperor and the bloody slaughter of Chiron and Demetrius all managed
to get laughs from the audience! The early dramatic tension of the
most shocking moments of the play was in the end lost by some of 
the more unlikely moments. This included the portrayal of the Goths
as latter day goths and at some points spontaneous peals of 
laughter from a few in the audience to some unintended aspects 
of the action! Certainly the cast galloping on from every direction
in the auditorium was at times a distraction from the action 
onstage. By the time the play arrived at its bloody climax, the 
overall feeling amongst we onlookers as the bodies piled up was 
one of divorced unreality. This was probably not helped by Tamora
ending the last scene of the play dead and face down in the pie 
containing bits of Chiron and Demetrius! This tableau rather 
undermined the final moments of Lavinia, Titus and Saturninus 
which followed; though it’s hard to say if any humour in this was
intentional. Overall the play had enough positive qualities in its
rather elegant staging, visual impact, terrifying dramatic touches
and evocative performances for the company to be taken completely 
seriously. Helen Duff as Tamora Queen of the Goths, David Monteith
as Aaron and Rebecca Pitt as Lavinia all contribute some very 
creditable, visceral performances. 'Action to the Word,' are said
to provide 'Shakespeare for the iPod generation.' They also 
'accept actors from a range of special needs backgrounds' and do
some fine work with schools. With a special mission to ensure that
the works of Shakespeare will continue to be accessible to a wider
audience, they certainly achieve just that with this amazing, jaw
dropping, production. 
3 gold bats

by John C Vassallo