it’s always great to see some Shakespeare, especially works that are less produced. Frog and Peach Theater Company have that going for them with their current production of Titus Andronicus. This history play has many of the well known characteristics that Shakespeare is known for; revenge, murder, deception. etc.
Decorated war hero, Titus Andronicus returns to Rome with gallant celebration. He is named Emperor, but refuses this honor which he comes to regret. His enemies rise to power and demolish Titus and his family. Eventually Titus enacts revenge on those that have scorned him before, in great Shakespearean tragedy tradition, nearly everyone dies. Of course there are other plots that co-mingle with this one, but I will not explain all of them. If you want to know more read the play or better yet, go see the show.
There are highs and lows in the cast. There are moments of brilliance, followed by forced emotional acting. Yes, Shakespeare calls for several different crucibles of great feeling, but if not done truthfully these peaks seem s laughable rather than poignant. Unfortunately,Greg Mullavey, who plays Titus, gets caught in this unevenness. Mullavey has some fine moments on stage, but then follows them up with fake tears and affected rage. In one scene Titus loses his hand. Mullavey cries out in pain, but quickly plays the rest of the scene as if nothing happened. Yet, his final scene is compelling and he connects to the play in a palpable way. It seemed as if Mullavey was unsure on stage and somewhat floundering around. These are his weaker moments, but when he finds his footing he is a force to be reckoned with. The hero of the cast is Phillip Gregory Burke, plays Aaron the scheming plotter, brilliantly. We firmly believe n his demonic nature and he is deliciously evil to watch. Theatergoers need to be on the lookout for Burke as I’m sure we will see more of him.
In addition to the mismatched performances, the technical aspects make it difficult for us to totally immerse ourselves in the world of the play. In the opening scene soldiers are lifting men to be buried. But the actors lift up these corpses as if they don’t weigh a thing. Then, the creative team decided to use red cloth as blood. When people were killed red cloth appeared. But it is so obvious that it’s fake, it takes us out of the moment. There is great fight choreography happening. I wish they would leave the red cloth out and let us fill in the blanks. When it is revealed that Aaron has a bastard son with the white queen, Tamera, we clearly see that it’s a fake baby. These incidents are jarring and we disconnect because our suspension of disbelief has been violated.. The reality of the play needs to be heightened consistently in order for us to stay engaged at all times. The music is, like a lot of the play, heavy-handed. Instead of adding to the play, it seems to be forcing us to have an emotional reaction, instead of letting us get there on our own. A common sound cue, harkens to the Jaws famous eerie tune. If they were under-scoring a movie, this would perhaps have better effect.
I hope this production can iron out some of these chinks in their armor. Because when they tell the story honestly and simply, it is captivating. It feels as if the cast and crew is working diligently to get us somewhere, but they don’t need that unnecessary pressure. They are enough without all the extra bells and whistles.
Titus Andronicus plays now through Nov. 2, 2014 at the West End Theatre 263 W 86th St.
http://www.Frogandpeachtheatre.org
Theater That Matters 
Hahha – I think Titus is going to be this years “Lear”. It’s getting done all over the country. This year so far I have seen 2 productions, one a farce and one that went for graphic realism. Neither Extreme alone “worked” for me. But I do think it has extreme elements of Tragedy and Comedy – Both!
This play, often considered to be one of the bards weakest from a literary standpoint is actually pretty interesting. It’s episodic in nature, extreme from one moment to the next. a I don’t think one should ever expect an intricate, detailed drama ( the plot itself, from a literary standpoint, has so many holes- and many of the characters are rough sketches to be fleshed out in later plays).
As an earlier play of the bard and company, yes I say company, because I truly think this one was for the masses and written by a few. It’s got tragic spectacle (very greek), humor (in many spots actually), action and a final sequence to rival the Dane. It’s as though a young Shakespeare and friends sat up late one night brainstorming an extreme play that might , could be entertaining despite its other flaws.
I really think this play gets lot of undo flack for being “the worst play in the canon” – I don’t find it to be at all. I find it to be somewhat refreshing to bear witness to when one is expecting an evening of “Shakespeare”. I would also venture to guess that because (till recently apparently) it’s not done as often that there are many, many interpretations to float around. ie,. I would have liked to see the Globe version that made headlines recently – even though it looks like they went to the extreme of glum , It sounds like it still would be worth seeing.
BTW- what was it about cloth blood that pulled you out? I’ve seen this done, when executed well, it works wonderfully, but you imply that the very use of it (which is a common theatrical device) took you out of the play – perhaps you mean the execution of it? Or do we not accept such ‘devices’ anymore? And, well what to do about stage baby’s LOL. Use real ones? God I hope not 😉 When I’ve seen it they were fake but, one had it wrapped completely the other did not. But- I don’t know, it seems weird to mention, obviously you weren’t too wrapped in the story at that point , LOL.
Anyways, nice site – keep up the thoughtful musings and investigations!
i guess it was the fact that the fighting seemed so real and the cloth blood seemed so fake-It was jarring to have them next to each other. I dont need the killings to try to be realistic. By using cloth blood-it was trying for realism in a very fake way
FYI: During Shakespeare’s time they didn’t used real blood but used ribbons or fabric.