Burbage Theatre Creates Bloody but Shallow Spectacle with TITUS ANDRONICUS

Among William Shakespeare's plays, Titus Andronicus may be one of the most difficult to pull off and pull off successfully. Its merits have been debated and discussed since it first appeared on the Elizabethan stage, with many decrying it as one of the Bard's worst. Others, especially in more recent times, have taken a deeper look and found much to praise and applaud about the underlying themes and messages below all the carnage. And make no mistake about it, there is carnage. Numerous killings, most of them on stage, more than a few severed appendages, one rape and some cannibalism thrown in for good measure.

One might argue that Titus is the perfect kind of play for a bold young company like Burbage Theatre Company. Willing and able to take risks, to go places other theater companies might not be so interested in going. And while there are some high points for Burbage and their production, it seems that they've fallen into the trap of focusing too much on one thing, to the detriment of other important aspects of Shakespeare's work. Primarily, they seem to have spent most of the time perfecting all of that carnage, all the blood and gore, while not spending enough time on perfecting the actual text, the words and language that make up the work and create its true life. As a friend who is a Shakespearean scholar noted to me, "That's always the danger with Titus, I'm afraid," and her fears would have been realized in this production.

As for the plot, this is a pretty straightforward revenge drama. Titus Andronicus is a general who returns home to Rome from many years at war, having lost numerous sons in battle. She (I'll get to the use of that pronoun in a moment) is offered the throne of emperor, but refuses it. Saturninus, son of the former emperor, becomes the new ruler and takes as his wife Tamora, the queen of the enemies they just defeated. When Titus has one of Tamora's sons killed, it sets in motion a parade of bloody vengeance, led by Tamora and her lover, Aaron, a Moor. This includes the framing and murder of two of Titus' sons, while Titus' daughter is raped and has her hands and tongue cut out by Tamora's own sons. All of this leads to an eventual bloodbath of revenge where few are left standing.

While all that murder and mayhem is happening, there are important themes and messages here which are relevant to our time (in fact, this is pointed out during the curtain speech. Feel free to debate among yourselves the merits of having a pre-show speech that explains the point of the play, as if the audience might not get it). The central question is how much this kind of violence and bloodshed has become commonplace in our own time. Is it all too familiar? Are we desensitized to it? Titus forces the audience to confront those questions and confront their own reaction to what's happening in front of them. Does it horrify them? Are they shocked? Perhaps they are even apathetic to it. It is a credit to Burbage that they are exposing audiences to these questions and at least attempting to motivate audience members to find the answers.

Unfortunately, audience members may be too distracted by all the flying blood to really notice or care about those underlying questions and themes. In truth, some of the death scenes are pulled off masterfully. It's clear that director Jeff Church and his team put care and thought into how to make the deaths seem visceral and real. Some of them are shocking, others are a punch to the gut the audience can't help but feel themselves. But the production doesn't amount to much more than a series of these scenes, one after another, while everything else is rushed and glanced over, in a hurry to get to the next gruesome death.

Speed is one of the production's problems. Church lets some of his actors speak the text much too fast, with some of it getting lost in translation (there's also a trap some fall into of thinking that the only way modern audiences can digest or tolerate Shakespeare is by speaking it quickly, which may or may not be happening here). While my Shakespearean scholar friend commented that fast can be fine, as long as it's clear, that doesn't happen enough here. It's not always clear to the audience what the characters really mean by what they're saying or how they feel about what they're saying. It sometimes feels like the actors haven't really gotten in touch with the text, with the true meaning, as they simply rattle off words. And while it still sounds good, it is Shakespeare, after all, there isn't a lot of true life or emotion underneath. It's not enough to just say the lines that Shakespeare wrote, one must feel them and live them truthfully, and find the heart and soul of what is being said. That just doesn't happen often enough in this production.

In terms of delivering the text and and in other ways, Church's cast is uneven. Titus must be mentioned first, along with an explanation for using that pronoun, "She." Here, Titus is played by a woman, Rae Mancini. Not just an actress playing a male character, Titus is turned into a woman, with "brother" turned into "sister" and "father" into "mother" (although they still call her "Lord" at times, which seems inconsistent). It's an interesting choice, for sure, and one that brings an entirely different tone and tenor to the production. Mancini does the best she can with this difficult task and does have some really nice moments, in part because she's now Titus-as-Mother, which creates a whole different dynamic for her to play. It takes her a while to get going but when she does, she brings a fierce energy and life to the character, along with a very realistic descent into madness. While making Titus a woman is arguably a strange choice, Mancini takes it and runs with it, fully committing to the role.

Some of Mancini's best moments come when she gets scenes with her daughter, Lavinia, played here by Allison Crews. The two of them have an intense energy and chemistry between them and there are some very touching and even heartbreaking moments (again, the fact that it's mother/daughter adds another layer). Crews is one of the ensemble members who can really handle and deliver the text but she's also fabulous during the moments, and there are many, when she has to communicate without her voice. She's easily one of the strongest actors on the stage and is fascinating to watch.

In fact, the strongest performances all happen to come from actresses. Third, but certainly not least, is Christin Goff, as Tamora. Goff creates one of the most nuanced performances of the production, whether she's being the sexy temptress or the diabolical villain. She pulls it off wonderfully while living the text and speaking it in a way that is understandable and truthful. There's also a benefit to her for the Titus-as-Woman dynamic, as an interesting layer is added by the fact that Titus and Tamora are two women fighting for revenge, power, etc. Mancini and Goff have some nice moments together when they are two mothers suffering and fighting over the lives and deaths of their children.

There are some standouts among the male cast as well, most notably Roger Lemelin as Marcus and Aaron Morris as Lucius. Lemelin is wholly believable as the voice of wisdom and reason, and also one of the best among the ensemble at handling the text and its emotional underpinnings. Morris is his equal, delivering a fine, nuanced performance and a rousing climactic speech that is among the play's highlights. Also a highlight is Jason Quinn's performance as Aaron. Quinn commands the stage and the audience's attention, always bringing a certain gravitas to the role. He's also masterful here at showing us different sides of Aaron, from another villain plotting evil deeds to a father doting over a newborn baby (while also killing somebody viciously in the same moment). It's not an easy role, but Quinn is up to the task.

In a rather thankless role, Dillon Medina stands out as Bassianus, the doomed son of the emperor. It's too bad we don't get more of Medina and his performance. As Tamora's sons, Andrew Iacovelli as Demetrius is his reliably charismatic self and it's nice to see James Lucey stop being "the brooding and intense one" and bring some emotional levels to the role. In terms of major characters, the weakest link is Saturninus, played here by Rico Lanni, whose acting style in this production, at least, can best be described as "clench and yell." There's also a sort of Greek chorus, which seems like a bit of a stretch, having a Greek chorus in an Elizabethan play set in ancient Rome. For the play's first half, they seem unnecessary and pointless, only there to move things around and scream needlessly when someone is killed. Later, though, they are used to much better effect, when they become representatives of Rome's enemies, the Goths. Julia Bartoletti gets the most to say and do among the chorus, and as fans of her work might expect, she is excellent.

Also excellent are the technical aspects of the production. Burbage has quickly developed a real knack for perfectly using the space at Aurora to outstanding effect. While no lighting designer is mentioned in the program, the production designer is Trevor Elliot, who one can assume is responsible for the fantastic lighting moments which bring real atmosphere and depth to the production (if not Elliot, my apologies and due credit to whomever creating the lighting effects). Sharon Carpentier's costume designs are successful in bringing a sort of timeless quality to the production which helps to support the play's modern-day relevance.

It's easy to see the attention to detail and efforts that went into those technical elements as well as other elements of the production, especially the splattering blood. There are even tarps under the first row of seats, just in case audience members are accidentally splattered upon. But the blood and its preponderance should not be the main attraction. It should be secondary to the story, the characters and text of the play. It's like being at a show at Sea World where getting water splashed on you is more important than the tricks being performed by the seals and whales. With Titus, because of focusing too much on the wrong thing, what's actually happening on stage is mostly just a lot of dead fish.

Titus Andronicus runs through March 18th at Aurora Providence, at 276 Westminster Street in downtown Providence. Performances are 7pm on March 11th, 6pm on March 12th, and 7pm on March 17th and 18th. Tickets are $20 and $15 for seniors and students, $10 for Rhode Island College students and Free for high school students. For more ticket information or to reserve, visit the company's website at www.burbagetheatre.org.

Pictured: Rae Mancini. Photo by Trevor Elliot.

To post a comment, you must register and login.