SL+Titus+Andronicus+Critique

Jameson Lindsey Theatre 2000 Dr. Farley Richmond Titus Andronicus Critique “Titus Andronicus” is a Shakespearean tragedy presumed to have been written around 1588-1593. It consists of five acts detailing the gruesome acts of revenge committed by an army general, Titus Andronicus, returning from fighting a war for the Romans against the Queen of the Goths Tamora. Rape, murder, hangings, and blood are littered throughout the play and almost all the characters are affected by this violent war between the two peoples and their families. At the time, this play was received well by the Elizabethan peoples who sought violent forms of entertainment. However, towards the 17th century, it became ill-received as the majority of peoples were dismayed by its grotesque deaths and mutilations. The premise of the play revolves around Roman war hero, Titus Andronicus, and Queen of the Goths, Tamora, falling into a vicious cycle of revenge that ends in their ultimate demise and death of most of their loved ones. The play was held in the Fine Arts Theatre on campus and the venue proved to be an excellent choice for this production. As I walked into the building, I was met with artificial fog floating throughout the theatre and across the stage. I loved this design touch because it makes the audience feel as if they are pulled into the same world the actors on stage are attempting to create. It created an eerie mood before the show even started which I thought was pretty incredible. The actual set of the play I also thought was pretty genius. The play consists of many different scenes that take place in the woods, a Roman street, Titus’s house, and several other drastically different locations. It would be incredibly difficult to design that many sets in a set budget and time. Also, as this play is rather long, it would add even more time to the showing if several of these scenes were to be rolled on and off and properly stored behind stage. Instead, the set designer created a neutral stage with varying levels and angles. There was a catwalk of sorts set at the front of the stage that allowed the actors to interact with the audience. There was a side plank on stage right where many of the characters could go to presumably talk in private or a single character could express his inner thoughts without the others hearing him. It was broad and vast yet subtle enough that the actors could portray the varying locations with ease. As usual, the lighting design was my favorite part of the production. There were several cases where the lighting was used to create the setting that the bare set design could not do. The lighting in the beginning of the play was dim, increasing in intensity as the actors who marched through the aisles ascended onto stage. The house was lit as well during this scene. This lighting gave no particular focus on one actor. However, as Titus and his brother, Marcus Andronicus, step aside to discuss something in private, the lights in the house dim and all of the focus is on the two’s conversation. For the scene where Lavinia is mutilated in the woods, the lighting is dam and scattered to give the impression of a shady canopy. Another memorable lighting affect was the scene where Aaron the Moor cuts off Titus’s hand as a plea to save Titus’s son’s lives. The actual cutting of the hand is not seen, but, as the lights cut to a dark red across the entire stage, Aaron swings his sword down on an imaginary arm and Titus’s screams can be heard in response. The lighting here allows the horrid imagery of blood shed to be conveyed without the actual hassle of choreography the scene with added prosthetics or makeup. The one lighting affect I did not enjoy, however, was the LED string lights sewn into the Oracles costumes. They looked cheap and the color was bright pink which threw off the goory aesthetic created by the other meticulous lighting. The sound design was difficult for me to grasp. Some sound effects were in good taste such as the effect of hounds barking in the woods during the hunt held in the Emperor’s honor or the whooshing of a sword as it sliced through the air to cut off Titus’s hand. Others were not so well done in my opinion. The tune played whenever the Emperor enters the room or scene sounded childish and as if cheaply recorded; it didn’t sound noble or serious enough for an Emperor. For that matter, the trumpeter who would have to be around the Emperor all the time to produce that sound was never seen. The sound played when Aaron’s baby was brought out by the nurse was also ridiculous, and what should have been a loving moment between a new father and his baby was actually turned into a small joke that the audience laughed out. One other sound affect that I thought was interesting but it could have been pulled off better was the echo that the mics the Oracles were wearing produced. It gave them a ghostly feel which fits in with the idea of an Oracle, but the actor’s voices did not fit the echo well and it sounded whiney. I think with a little more time spent on their voices, the effect would have been much more successful. The costumes were my least favorite part of the whole production. I could not tell if the costume designer was trying to go for whimsical and ridiculous, or if it just accidently came off that way. The Oracles costumes reminded me of cotton candy or clowns, not the spiritual beings who offered wisdom. They’re character appeal was drastically diminished by their tall wigs and pastel-colored clothing. The time period attempting to be portrayed by the costumes was completely sporadic and unorganized. The Goths were dressed in furs and woodland tones as if they were barbaric peoples from Medieval times. Titus and his men looked as if they were dressed as soldiers from the Civil War. Titus’s nephews at one point came out in costumes that reminded me of news boys from the 1920’s American culture. The differing time periods expressed came off as cluttered and confusing. If one time period had been utilized, I think the affect would have been much more profound and transparent. The quality of the costumes was incredible and quite intricate for a play set on a stage of that size. Usually, costumes made for plays set on a large stage or arena do not need much detail since the audience is set so far back. But with the set design and blocking allowing the actors to come very close to the audience, I suspect more attention was paid to details. My least favorite costume of all was Lavinia’s. As the daughter of Titus, many men, including both potential emperors and both of Tamora’s sons lusted for Lavinia. However, you would never assume that with the large, bulky costume that she was dressed in for most of the play. The large sky-blue trench coat she trudged around on stage in hid any kind of feminine features she possessed. After watching the final climatic scene, I could see why many peoples originally found Shakespeare’s “Titus Andronicus” to be almost too much death and overkill. The content of the script has several murders and mutilations that do add up but could be potentially seen as realistic. However, the final scene in which Lavinia, Tamora, Saturnius, and Titus are all murdered is extremely unrealistic and a bit comical. I did not find the climax to be appropriate for the play as it showed no moral teaching that Shakespeare’s plays are famous for displaying during the final scenes. Perhaps one could gather that the moral theme is that revenge is a vicious cycle that could come back to cause your own demise. However, its goriness and systematic killing came off as overkill trying to appease an ancient audience who was presumed to desire such deaths. One aspect of the script I did enjoy was the multiple “hand” puns that Titus kept saying after he had his hand severed off by Aaron the Moor. Titus had fallen into a madness spell after finding out his sons were still beheaded even after ge offered his bloody hand to the Emperor. These sporadic, humorous jokes about his misfortune work to slowly increase his madness until he ultimately decides to bake Tamora’s son’s remains into a pie for her to eat. I thought the character development was also superb. As we had John Terry come in and speak to our class, I was very excited to watch him at work and I was not disappointed. He gave Titus, the war hero, a coarse, formidable force and appeal in the beginning of the play that then fell into sorrowful tears for his mutilated daughter. He then effortlessly slipped into the mindset of a mad man who had undergone countless tragedies in a short amount of time. I also thought Daniel Stock who played Marcus Andronicus did an excellent job portraying a solid, trustworthy character who was true to the Andronicus family through the entire show. His mannerisms were soft and kind yet he never faltered to step in and offer advice to Titus. Taylor Wood portrayed Tamora, Queen of the Goths. As I am recalling the show, I cannot think of one particular moment when her acting struck me as important to her character development. Perhaps the best examples of her acting were when her eldest son was sent to death by Titus or when she discovered Titus had baked her other sons into a pastry that she had consumed. And while these are dramatic scenes, I almost couldn’t understand her lines over her loud screams. Her two sons, Demetrious and Chrion, however, did an excellent job building up grotesque and sick characters. The characters were played by Tom von Dohlen (Chiron) and Gil Eplan-Frankel (Demetrius) who’s facial expressions and evil laughter made me feel uneasy every time they entered the scene because of what they did to poor Lavinia. As a woman, I felt immense sadness at her mutilation at the hands of the two brothers. The two actors did an excellent job making sure they held onto the monstrous characters’ mannerisms until their demise at the hand of the Andronicus family. In fact, even as they entered the stage again for their curtain call, I still felt disgust towards them and their characters. Another actor that did a good job building his character was Marlon Burnley who played Aaron the Moor. Right from the start, Aaron’s character is deceitful and villainous. Burnley’s arrogant stance and facial expressions created a character that the audience immediately feels discontent for and this increases as we slowly realize that Aaron likes to manipulate people into heinous crimes that he also likes to commit himself. Burnely’s evil laugh was also perfected so I have to give my regards to him for that. And lastly, the actor who I think really made the show quite enjoyable was Charlie Cromer who played Emperor Saturninus. The Emperor that ____ portrayed was a total nut; he frolicked around stage and used falsetto voices to discuss important matters. He came off as a foolish leader who is easy to manipulate, which is exactly what Tamora did. As I read the script for Titus Andronicus, I realize that the character was not written to be performed in this manner. Cromer cleverly chose to portray the emperor in this manner and it was brilliant. He was a spot of humor within the gray play and that fell right in line with the proceedings without force or awkwardness. As I was quite confused by the meaning behind this Shakespearean work, I did not particularly find its content worthwhile. I thought it to be over-the-top violence that led to no apparent moral theme. The physical production of the play besides the sound and costumes was very well done and created another world that the audience could step into. The audience seemed to respond to this production positively. I was pleasantly surprised by the ability of the audience to understand the script; everyone was attentive enough to understand when to laugh and gasp at the appropriate times (although the portrayal of the lines by the actors certainly helped in that aspect). I heard several audience members discussing their positive comments on the production as a whole. While I too enjoyed the humor and various fake-blood splatters, I did not entirely agree with the audience’s comments because I was paying attention to tinier details within the production instead of the larger picture. I have plenty of friends and acquaintances who I would recommend Shakespearean plays to. However, this particular play would be on the bottom of my recommendation list to those that seek a deep, wholesome Shakespearean play. Perhaps if I saw a different rendition with different costumes and a different final scene interpretation, I would reconsider. I have always found portions of Shakespearean plays interesting, with one of my favorites being from “Othello”. However, sitting through two and half hours of Shakespearean language was a bit tiring and I felt my mind wondering. I would be more interested in reading portions of the scripts and watching these portions acted out before attending a full fledge Shakespearean play.