Titus Andronicus gets the Tarantino treatment in terrifying RSC production

Whilst many were celebrating their visits to Stratford by seeing a light-hearted, football-themed Much Ado About Nothing production, a select group of journalists geared up to face the notoriously brutal Titus Andronicus. The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Swan Theatre would play host to the bloodbath, with the legendary Sir Simon Russell Beale bravely taking on the title role. Directing him is Max Webster. He comes fresh off helming the joyous Importance of Being Earnest, so he certainly cannot be accused of lacking versatility.   

A pair of opaque glass doors overlooking an ominous, bare stage. Its floor is engraved in the style of a Roman tombstone

As we enter the auditorium, we are not met by a grandiose set and a pink-clad Ncuti Gatwa- as we were in Webster’s previous foray- but by a pair of opaque glass doors overlooking an ominous, bare stage. Its floor is engraved in the style of a Roman tombstone, whilst a lone winch and dangling hook are suspended from the rafters. The faint hum of helicopter blades wrestles authority from the assembled critics as the vicious production commences.  

Ancient Rome’s elite then assemble in grey trench coats as we are thrown in to brothers Saturninus (Joshua James) and Bassianus’ (Ned Costello) battle for the throne. In the end, it is up to famed General Titus Andronicus to choose between the two. He selects Saturninus, a decision which sparks a chain of unimaginable suffering for him and his family.  

It is after this appointment that we are introduced to the Goths, Germanic people captured by Romans, led by the despicable Queen Tamora (Wendy Kweh). The RSC take this opportunity to establish a racial divide in their casting, with the show’s ethnic minority actors portraying the Goths, facing the exclusively white actors as the Romans. This was an interesting move from a company who usually, where possible, operate a race-blind casting system. On top of this, the Goths are initially dressed in a disarmingly bright blue, directly contrasting the Roman attire. Clearly, the RSC wanted to create an ‘us and them’ situation. However, what struck this reviewer was, as the play developed, how similarly remorseless almost every character, regardless of allegiance, becomes. Indeed, costuming is one of this production’s few flaws. The violent Goths wear progressively blacker clothing as their thoughts turn murderous, whilst Titus’ innocent daughter Lavinia (Letty Thomas) is often seen wearing white. When contrasted with the creativity of some of the death sequences, these choices couldn’t help but feel a little basic.  

The audience will be frozen in horror one moment and laughing the next

What Webster and co do excel at, is making this a profoundly unsettling piece of theatre. Spearheading this is Russell Beale, delivering a performance that is darkly comical at times, to the point where the audience will be frozen in horror one moment and laughing the next. In a play that is often considered unbearable due to its inclusion of filicide, rape and cannibalism, comedy can be an essential asset. Webster gives his actors free range to make their performances as melodramatic as they see fit, which in turn gives him license to create some of the most graphic and gruesome material that I’ve ever seen on a stage. What’s striking about these scenes, many of which incorporate the aforementioned winch and hook, is that the characters rarely make physical contact. This doesn’t always work, but when one character carries a revved up chainsaw and another halfway across the stage has to watch his own hand being severed, the sequence is outrageously vivid. The stage trickery, both here and in other bloody scenes, is remarkable and sickening at the same time. It is understandable that the RSC have placed this production in their smaller theatre; not everyone will be able to stomach it. The empty seats next to us, vacated at the interval, spoke for themselves. 

Replacing Titus’ brother Marcus with a sister, Marcia (Emma Fielding), was a clever touch that allowed women to maintain a level of autonomy in the production

Titus was a huge success when first performed, but opinion of it has fluctuated over the centuries. Considering its content, it certainly has to be handled extremely sensitively. Replacing Titus’ brother Marcus with a sister, Marcia (Emma Fielding), was a clever touch that allowed women to maintain a level of autonomy in the production. Most fascinating of all the characters though is Aaron the Moor, depicted near perfectly by Natey Jones. Whilst Aaron’s evil is virtually unquestionable, he is also an outcast who has to face a barrage of racial insults and prejudice. His tender moment with his new-born child, as well as his impassioned speech on his pride to be Black, make him far more than the one-dimensional character he has always been dismissed as. The closest comparison one can make between Aaron and another Shakespeare character is probably with Iago from Othello. Though the latter is motivated by his hatred of a ‘moor’, he exhibits the same kind of cunning, anger and knowing wit as Jones’ Aaron.  

As for the starring role, Titus is evidently one of Shakespeare’s most demanding parts, and it takes someone of Russell Beale’s calibre to pull it off. At the play’s climax, one questions whether the great performer even has to act the part of a battle-scarred, exhausted man, or whether he is simply living it.  

Determined to achieve one last act of sadist heroism, Titus declares that ‘Rome is but a wilderness of tigers’. It is a wilderness that ought to be explored more often, as there is much we can learn from Shakespeare’s first tragedy. Webster asks us to examine our tendency to glorify violence and prejudice, reminding us that in a Britain that has seldom felt more polarised, it will be our ignorance that destroys us.  

Titus Andronicus will run until June 7.