Smooth Faced Gentlemen & Greenwich Theatre's All-Female TITUS ANDRONICUS Set for Edinburgh Fringe

Smooth Faced Gentlemen, the award-winning all-female ensemble bring their vibrant and vicious retelling of Titus Andronicus back to Edinburgh. Three families intertwine in a brutally farcical tale of revenge, told with style, wit and gallons of bright red paint.

Shakespeare's bloodiest and most brutally misunderstood work, Smooth Faced Gentlemen's Titus Andronicus explores politics and power in the dying days of the Roman empire, in a stylish re-interpretation, shown through the eyes of a soldier returning from battle to a post-war society. Shakespeare's earliest tragedy is infamous for its testosterone-fuelled violence; the story encompasses war, murder, rape, social unrest, dismemberment and even cannibalism.

Smooth Faced Gentlemen's dynamic ensemble use paint and artists' brushes in place of weapons and fake gore. The result is a vibrant, visceral re-imagining that is fast, fresh, furious, faithful and funny.

Smooth Faced Gentlemen was formed in 2012 after being inspired by gender-swapping in the RSC's King John, and all male companies such as Propeller. Othello is their third show, following from the box office hit Titus Andronicus and Romeo and Juliet. Winners of the John Beecher Award for Innovative Theatre (2013).

Titus Andronicus is directed by Yaz Al-Shaater (Titus Andronicus, Not the Messiah), and stars Henri Merriam (F.A.N.Y - Anonymous is a Woman, Man is Man - Theatre Paradisum) as Titus and Emily Bairstow (Shoot I Didn't Mean That - Sphinx Theatre Company, The Merry Wives of Windsor - Principal Theatre Company) as Tamora.

Alongside Titus Andronicus, Smooth Faced Gentlemen are also presenting their brand new all-female production of Othello at Underbelly.