Titus+Andronicus+Critique+by+Robert+Rawls

When first entering the theatre, I walked into a mist that filled the auditorium. As if stepping in to another world; but not one of ancient Rome or the stage of Shakespeare's Globe. It was a strange world in which //Titus Andonicus// existed removed from time and location. The set, expertly cobbled together of bare wood and steel, gave the stage a look of a world at war being held together by force of will and a had full of industrial screws. As the lights dimmed the marching beat of drums built from the main entrance, and trembled their way on to the stage with the actors in tow. A quick pause gave first look at the costumed actors before departing with the same haste, leaving only those who were to start the play.

The costumes struck me as the kind of garb one would expect to find in a work of science fiction. Each class of Roman was done distinct from each other, as all Romans were equally distinct from the Goths. Saturninus and Bassianus (Charlie Cromer, Antonio Mantica respectively) were both in what would be more formal attire with individual accents of red and purple cut to resemble suits composed of many alterations and superfluous flairs. The three Oracles (AlSherrae' Ray, Jessica Browder, and Hannah Martin) were in fanciful dresses that contained blue lights and were topped with surreal head peaces, and face makeup. Those in the House of Andronicus had a more utilitarian feel to them. Titus (John Terry) wore an outfit that was, for me, reminiscent of a civil war general. While his sons, Lucius, Quintus, Martius, and Mutius (Anthony Nash, Eric Baylot, Riley Carlson, and Kileigh Adams) were all in the same navy blue jackets, gray pants and black boots, only differencing in colored stripes, that would be at home on a muddy battlefield. Marcus's (Daniel Stock) outfit was similar style to Titus's costume, but with added regalia that marked him as being a Roman Tribune and not a soldier. Lavinia (Brittney Harris) was in what could best be described as the light blue cloths of a 19th century school teacher.

In contrast, the Goths had natural colors, such as greens and tans. Queen Tamora (Taylor Wood) flowing green dress is the nicest of the Goths' costumes, but the rest of them had well worn and makeshift outfits. Chiron and Demetrius (Tom von Dohlen, Gil Eplan-Frankel) are dressed with influences of what looks to be a modern take on Huns and a desert fighter. While Aaron (Marlon Burnley) is in a North African pirate outfit. All of these differences work together to separate each character within their different groups, and gives the audience some idea as to what their characters are like.

Throughout the production, the cast did an over all good job tackling the Shakespearean language, with only a few minor stumbles. What was odd was some of the portrayals of the characters would shift from being appropriately dramatic to overly dramatic. It is as if at some points the actors were no longer in a tragedy, but in a dark bloody comedy. John Terry's body language changed over the course of the production, keeping in line with Titus's decent into grief and want for revenge. But Charlie Cromer would seem to change from a reading inline with the other actors in the scene to an overly exaggerated reading of lines that drew laughter from the crowd. It left me unsure if those changes were intentional or accidental.

The lighting and sound design did a good job of heightening the action that was on the stage. The lighting would shift with the scene and location to help direct the audience to the prominent action; and would bathe the set in a deep crimes when the action turned to the instances of violence that this play is know for. The sound would also made present during those acts with a sharp, industrial sting. For most of the play the music was the march of drums on stage and occasional altering the voices of speakers on stage to sound like, “that seem to be coming from highly over-driven, poor quality speakers, creating an effect almost like that of yelling into a megaphone,” wrote Ray Paolino, the sound designer. After the conclusions, I felt that the over all combination of each part of the production worked well with each other, and created an interesting presentation of //Titus Andronicus.//