Theater review: ‘Titus Andronicus’ is bloody, impressive
- What: “Titus Andronicus.”
- When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday and Aug. 15-17.
- Where: Toy Boat Community Artspace. 101 Fairview Road, Biltmore Village adjacent.
- Tickets: $12, $15. Call 633-1773 or visit www.anamcaretheatre.org.
For a 17th century dude from a small town in the South of England, Shakespeare had a remarkable sense of distant geography and ancient history. His tales took place in the English court, northern Italy, the Danish coast and in ancient Rome.
We’ve had examples of them all in recent WNC productions, and Anam Cara’s current “Titus Andronicus” by Anam Cara Theatre Co. as well as Montford Park Players’ upcoming “Coriolanus” are examples of his Roman forays.
“Titus Andronicus” is, without doubt, Shakespeare’s most gory, gruesome, grim, grisly and grotesque creation, concocted to appeal to the tastes of theatergoers of the time. It sold well in its era but had lost favor over four centuries. But if nothing else, Anam Cara Theatre Company is daring.
It may be surprising for this ambitious if edgy troupe to undertake ANY classical work, when their forte has been currently provocative material with little or no constraints by traditional theater norms. And to some degree that could describe this undertaking of one of Shakespeare’s most audacious productions.
Not much constraint is in evidence: in costumes nor historicity, in blood and gore, nor in efforts to emulate many aspects of classicist theater. It seems more than a coincidence that the foreign enemy of Rome should be the Goths. This is a wild and remarkable production, of its own sort.
It bears some description, but it won’t come easily. We have a mid-20th century phonograph stage right, a plastic trombone, a somewhat common and ordinary accordion and delightfully incongruous mood music before and during the show. Any effort at consistency of eras is out of the question.
The script is somewhat respected, but director Skyler Goff has chosen to mess with the Bard as far as some cropping to get the cast down to size and abridging to get the audience out of an unairconditioned playing area with dispatch on a too-warm evening.
For its most ambitious undertaking known to this writer, Anam Cara confronts a massive challenge with full-frontal chutzpah. And it pays off.
If you have any qualms about beheadings, dismemberments or amputations, perhaps “Driving Miss Daisy” is a better choice for your weekend exploration. There is horror among us at Toy Boat Community Artspace these coming nights, and there is no escaping the violence and vengeance. There are 16 named characters and an able technical theater support team of eight, counting director Goff — far too many to list.
A few must be mentioned: Title role goes to Garrett Funk, no longer playing the ingenue. Ashleigh Millett gives us Tamora, Queen of the Goths, later wife of Saturnius, the new emperor, done by Robert Edwards. Meda Thurston is marvelous as Lavinia, daughter of Titus, while the elder son, Lucius, is done by Adrian Suskauer, the grandson Lucius by Lilly Mills. Marcus Andronicus is portrayed by Ken Knight.
All these characters are fictional, the plot totally the product of Shakespeare’s fertile mind, unlike “Coriolanus” which is based on solid Roman history
Special mention must be made of the awesome evil incarnate as rendered by Kevin Norris as Aaron the Dark. The name is only a clue to how terrifying and treacherous is this bad-news dude. His last words before his own murder are to regret not having time and ability to manage more mayhem. It’s an ominous and awful role, done with convincing skill.
Reach theater critic Jim Cavener at jimcavener@aya.yale.edu.
IF YOU GO
What: “Titus
Andronicus”
When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, and Aug. 15-17.
Where: Toy Boat Community Artspace. 101 Fairview Road, Biltmore Village adjacent.
Tickets: $12, $15. Call 633-1773 or visit www. anamcaretheatre.org.