Titus Andronicus Know-the-Show Audience Guide - researched and written by - The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey

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Titus Andronicus Know-the-Show Audience Guide - researched and written by - The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                      TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

                                                                 Titus
                                                               Andronicus
                                                                by William Shakespeare

                                                                 Know-the-Show
                                                                 Audience Guide
                                                                   researched and written by
                                                                 the Education Department of

                                                  Artwork by
                                             Scott McKowen
Titus Andronicus Know-the-Show Audience Guide - researched and written by - The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                                                              TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

In       this Guide
                   – The Life of William Shakespeare................................................................................................ 2
                   – Titus Andronicus: Director’s Note............................................................................................... 3
                   – Titus Andronicus: A Synopsis..................................................................................................... 5
                   – Who’s Who in the Play.............................................................................................................. 7
                   – Sources and History................................................................................................................... 8
                   – The Peacham Drawing............................................................................................................... 9
                   – Titus Andronicus: A Play for Our Time?.................................................................................... 10
                   – Commentary & Criticism......................................................................................................... 11
                   – Theatre in Shakespeare’s Day................................................................................................... 12
                   – In this Production.................................................................................................................... 13
                   – Explore Online........................................................................................................................ 14
                   – Sources & Further Reading....................................................................................................... 15

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Titus Andronicus Know-the-Show Audience Guide - researched and written by - The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
of
 The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                             TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

 			Life
The
       William
                                                                              playwright. He wrote approximately 38 plays, two epic poems,
                                                                              and over 150 sonnets. His work was immensely popular, appealing

			      Shakespeare                                                          to members of all social spheres including Queen Elizabeth I and
                                                                              King James I. While the plays were well-liked, Shakespeare’s
                                                                              work was not considered by his educated contemporaries to be
                                                                              exceptional. By 1608, Shakespeare’s involvement with theatre
                                  William Shakespeare, widely                 began to dwindle, and he spent more time at his country home in
                                  recognized as the greatest English          Stratford. He died in 1616.
                                  dramatist, was born on April 23,
                                  1564. He was the third of eight             Most of Shakespeare’s plays found
                                  children born to John Shakespeare           their first major publication
                                  and Mary Arden of Stratford-                in 1623, seven years after
                                  upon-Avon in Warwickshire,                  Shakespeare’s death, when
                                  England. Shakespeare’s father was           two of his fellow actors put
                                  a prominent local merchant, and             the plays together in the First
                                  Shakespeare’s childhood, though             Folio. Other early printings
National Portrait Gallery, London little is known about it for certain,       of Shakespeare’s plays were
                                  appears to have been quite normal.          called quartos, a printer’s
                                  In fact, it seems that the young            term referring to the format in
Shakespeare was allowed considerable leisure time because his                 which the publication was laid
writing contains extensive knowledge of hunting and hawking.                  out. These quartos and the First
In 1582, he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a farmer.                  Folio texts are the sources of all
She was eight years his senior, and the match was considered                  modern printings of Shakespeare’s
unconventional.                                                               plays.
                                                                                                                      The Shakespeare Family
                                                                                                                           Coat of Arms
It is believed that Shakespeare left Stratford-upon-Avon and went
to London around 1588. By 1592, he was a successful actor and

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Titus Andronicus Know-the-Show Audience Guide - researched and written by - The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                                    TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

Titus                                                                            accessible glimpse into the potential

Andronicus
                                                                                 of a young playwright just beginning
                                                                                 to find his voice.

                                                                                 The seduction of revenge is clearly

      Director’s Note                                                            central to the plot, but so are the
                                                                                 consequences of revenge and,
Titus Andronicus is a play that has been on my “wish list” since my              surprisingly, the importance of
college years - when Bruce Cromer, who plays the titular role in this            family. Every atrocity that takes place
production, was my Shakespeare professor. The play rightfully has                in the vicious world of this play is
a reputation for being Shakespeare’s bloodiest work, and that was                committed either to protect family or
certainly a major draw for me nearly three decades ago as a younger              to exact revenge for a wrong done to
artist – something wild and intense for audiences and artists alike. Since       family. As a father now, I am struck
then, I have become far more intrigued with the unexpected depths that           by the sometimes twisted sense of         John Boydell’s etching of the attack on
                                                                                 family that is set firmly at the heart               Lavinia as Tamora watches.
the play possesses. Looking past the “shock and awe” moments of Titus,
one sees stark human stories filled with love and betrayal, desire and           of this play. Titus forces us to take a
longing, cruelty and compassion. I also hope that audiences and readers          long, hard look at how far we would go for family in terms of revenge.
will discover the beautiful poetry and imagery that ripple throughout the        It then requires that we consider the consequences. What would you
play.                                                                            do if something unspeakable happened to your child or to your parent?
                                                                                 How would you respond if all legal outlets were denied to you? What
Written to appease the Elizabethan audience’s desire for revenge-                if the community to whom you had been devoted suddenly turned its
dramas, Titus was a kind of “pop-tragedy” for the up-and-coming                  back on you in your time of need? What might you do if, by chance, you
Shakespeare. It was so popular that it was printed in quarto form                were given power over those who had wronged you? It is a frightening
within its first year. The dynamic characters and diabolic blood-letting         rabbit hole to go down because I expect, if honestly examined, many
that enthralled the Elizabethans, often grab the spotlight, but now              law-abiding individuals would find themselves committing previously
with the advantage of perspective, one can also see the seeds of what            unthinkable acts in the name of family. This is why I believe Titus is an
Shakespeare would later nurture into his masterpieces. The drive of              important play in the Shakespearean canon. Few artists examine the
revenge becomes more considered and weighty in Hamlet; a parent’s                human soul (especially the dark recesses we often attempt to deny) as
anguish at the sight of their injured child is refined later in King Lear        artfully as Shakespeare, and in doing so, he requires us to examine
and the Henry VI plays; a mother’s desperate plea for her son’s life is          ourselves. This is an arena in which Shakespeare soars. His
revisited in Henry VI, Part Three; and the charismatic, ruthless villains        writing captures shockingly honest glimpses into our humanity
find greater nuance in Othello and Richard III. This is an exciting and          and inhumanity. Titus examines the darkest extremes
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Titus Andronicus Know-the-Show Audience Guide - researched and written by - The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                                      TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

   “WHEN?” IN ROME
                                          of our desires, our hubris, our            I workshopped an abridged version of the play with members of our
Unlike Shakespeare’s other                pettiness, our ambitions, our loves,       Summer Professional Training Program. That workshop, which involved
Roman plays, the story of Titus           our cruelty, and our frailty; and          over three dozen college-level actors, designers, technicians, directors,
has no basis in historical fact           in so doing so, I believe it allows        and stage managers, reignited my curiosity and excitement about the play.
or lore. In fact, the Rome that           us, or encourages us, to consider          It seems only right that this production is also infused with the enthusiasm
he depicts never existed. There           better paths to follow.                    and tenacity of the next generation of theatre artists. Supplementing
are senators and tribunes, but                                                       our professional company (which includes two actors from that 2015
also emperors and familial            When leaders make impulsive                    workshop), there will be over a dozen members of our Summer
inheritance of power. As              decisions based on petty conflicts             Professional Training Program on stage and in the wings.
the Shakespeare editor T.J.B.         or personal ego, as we see in the
Spencer explains, the play            early moments of this play, the                						Brian B. Crowe, Director
is “a summary of Roman                entire foundation of a society can
politics. It is not so much that
                                      be undermined. Many characters
any particular set of political
                                      in Titus commit atrocities under
institutions is assumed in Titus,                                                                            TITUS BY THE NUMBERS
                                      the guise of societal traditions or
but rather that it includes all the
                                      sacred ceremony. Public opinion
political institutions that Rome                                                                    “Titus Andronicus has
                                      is manipulated and swayed in a
ever had.”                                                                                          14 killings, 9 of them on stage,
                                      matter of a few lines based on the
                                      whims of key figures in authority.
                                                                                                    6 severed members,
                                      We need only to look today’s daily
                                                                                                    1 rape...
news to see people celebrating the brutality and bloodshed perpetrated
                                                                                                    1 live burial,
on “the other” in their communities. We see the horrors of detention                                1 case of insanity, and
centers across the globe, calculated attacks on a nation’s own people,                              1 of (case of) cannibalism
families being ripped apart in strange lands, or Draconian actions taken
                                                                                                    — an average of 5.2 atrocities per Act,
by leaders who have felt snubbed. I feel that Titus is a warning to us;
                                                                                                    or one (atrocity) for every 97 lines.”
a microcosmic examination of what can happen when one chooses
cruelty, violence, and revenge as one’s guiding force. It is a play for our
                                                                                                    				-calculated by
time.
                                                                                                    				 S. Clark Hulse, critic

I have explored this play twice before. As part of our 2010 Lend Us
Your Ears series I directed a reading of the play, and then in 2015,

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Titus Andronicus Know-the-Show Audience Guide - researched and written by - The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                                          TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

  Titus                                                                                    the eldest son of the late emperor, be named the next leader of Rome,
                                                                                           and the people accept his choice. In recognition of the honor which Titus

  Andronicus
                                                                                           has bestowed on him, Emperor Saturninus promises to marry Titus’ only
                                                                                           daughter, Lavinia. Lavinia, however, is already betrothed to Saturninus’
                                                                                           younger brother Bassianus, and the couple fleas under the protective

        A Synopsis
                                                                                           guard of her brothers. The youngest brother, Mutius, is left behind to
                                                                                           defend against any pursuit. In a fit of fury Titus kills Mutius. Saturninus,
                                                                                           offended by this public humiliation, quickly denounces the Andronici,
  Please note: Below is a full summary of the play. If you prefer not to                   and marries Tamora, the Queen of the Goths instead. Tamora brokers a
  spoil the plot, consider skipping this section.                                          peace between Saturninus and the Andronici, while secretly plotting to
                                                                                           destroy Titus and his family. The families depart for a celebratory feast
  Following the death of the Emperor, Saturninus and Bassianus, the dead                   honoring Saturninus’ coronation, as well as the marriages of Saturninus to
  emperor’s sons, vie for the empery. Members of the Senate announce,                      Tamora and Bassianus to Lavinia. Saturninus agrees to join Titus and his
  however, that the people have selected the celebrated war hero, Titus                    family on a hunt the next day.
  Andronicus, to be their preferred candidate.
                                                                                           Alone on stage, Aaron, Tamora’s secret lover, vows to follow the newly
                                                 Titus and his sons triumphantly           crowned empress in her rise to power. Hearing Tamora’s sons, Chiron
                                                 return to Rome following a 10-            and Demetrius, arguing over their desires for Lavinia, Aaron convinces
                                                 year war with the Goths. Their            the young men to take Lavinia by force while on the hunt. They include
                                                 captives include the Queen of             the new empress in their plans and soon have a plot to ensnare Bassianus,
                                                 the Goths, Tamora; her three              Lavinia, and two of Titus’ three remaining sons.
                                                 sons; and Aaron, a Moor. As
                                                 Titus prepares to bury two of his         Aaron buries a bag of gold under a tree near a large pit in the forest and
                                                 sons killed in the latest conflict        instructs Tamora to deliver a forged note to Saturninus. When Bassianus
                                                 with the Goths, his remaining             and Lavinia see Tamora and Aaron together, they quickly suspect them
                                                 sons demand a sacrifice to                of being lovers. Before they can go tell the Emperor, however, Chiron
                                                 appease the spirits of their fallen       and Demetrius appear; they kill Bassianus and throw his corpse into the
                                                 brethren. Titus offers Tamora’s           large open pit. Lavinia pleads with Tamora for mercy, to no avail. After
                                                 eldest son, who, despite his              ravishing Lavinia, Chiron and Demetrius cut off her tongue and her hands
                                                 mother’s desperate pleas, is taken        so she cannot betray their identities to anyone who finds her.
                                                 away and sacrificed.
                                                                                           Meanwhile, Aaron lures Titus’ sons Martius and Quintus to the pit
                                                 When offered the empery, Titus            where Bassianus’ body lies. As planned, the brothers stumble into
Thomas Kirk illustration of Young Lucius         refuses. He asks that Saturninus,         the pit and discover the body of the slain Bassianus. Aaron
fleeing Lavinia, 1799.
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Titus Andronicus Know-the-Show Audience Guide - researched and written by - The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                                      TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

quickly brings Saturninus to the same spot; Tamora, Titus, and Lucius              calling for a parley.
arrive shortly after. Aaron’s forged note details the plot to murder
Bassianus and the gold buried as the murderer’s fee. Convinced that                Outside the gates of Rome, Lucius’ army captures Aaron as he attempts to
Martius and Quintus are responsible for Bassianus’ death, Saturninus               escape with his infant son. After being assured of the safety of his child,
has them arrested.                                                                 Aaron confesses that he aided Chiron and Demetrius in the murder of
                                                                                   Bassianus and the rape of Lavinia. He also confesses that he helped to
Titus appeals to the noblemen of Rome to save the lives of his sons, but           frame Lucius’ brothers for Bassianus’ death.
he is ignored. Lucius, Titus’ eldest son, is banished for attempting to res-
cue Martius and Quintus from prison. Meanwhile Marcus, Titus’ broth-               In the meantime, Tamora,
er, finds the mutilated Lavinia in the woods and brings her to her father.         Chiron, and Demetrius disguise
Devastated, the men lament the wrongs perpetrated on her, but do not               themselves as the spirits of                 PHILOMELA & TEREUS
know who is responsible. Aaron enters and informs Titus of the Em-                 Revenge, Rape, and Murder             Lavinia’s attack is based on the tale of
peror’s offer to save his sons from execution. If either Titus, Marcus, or         and visit Titus. Titus pretends to    Philomela as told in the sixth book of
Lucius will send Saturninus one of their hands, the young men will live.           believe their masquerade and          Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In this story
Titus quickly offers up his own hand and gives it to Aaron. Aaron’s trick          agrees to arrange a feast for the     Philomela, a princess of Athens, is raped
works, and soon Titus is given back the heads of his executed sons and             Emperor and Lucius. When              by her brother-in-law, King Tereus of
his own severed hand. Titus sends Lucius to the Goths to raise an army             Tamora departs, leaving her two       Thrace. To ensure her silence, he cuts
to enact revenge, while he, Lavinia, and Marcus mourn their losses.                sons with Titus, he cuts their        out her tongue and hides her among his
                                                                                   throats as Lavinia catches their      slaves. Philomela, however, weaves her
Several months have passed, when Lavinia comes across the story of                 blood in a basin. He plans to         story into a tapestry which she sends to
Philomela and Tereus which greatly resembles her own plight. Through               bake the villains into pies which     her sister Procne, wife to Tereus. Seeking
this book, she is able to communicate what happened to her to her                  he will feed to their mother at       revenge, the sisters kill Tereus’ son and
family. She scratches the names of her attackers in the dirt, and Titus            the baquet. As secret treacheries     bake him in a pie, which they serve to
begins to plot his revenge in earnest.                                             are revealed, the feast quickly       Tereus.
                                                                                   turns to chaos, resulting in the
Meanwhile in the capital, Tamora gives birth. It is apparent, however,             murders of Lavinia, Tamora, Titus,
that the child is not Saturninus’, but Aaron’s. When she orders Aaron to           and Saturninus.
kill the child, he plots instead how to keep his child safe.
                                                                                   Lucius is elected Emperor of
Desperate for revenge, Titus attempts to summon the gods to his aid by             Rome and condemns Aaron
shooting arrows with messages into the heavens. The arrows fall into               to be buried neck deep in the
the palace of Saturninus, who rails on what he feels is blasphemous                earth to starve to death. He also
defamation of his empery. Word arrives that Lucius has amassed a                   orders that Tamora’s remains not
powerful Goth army and is preparing to advance on Rome. Tamora                     receive a proper burial but be left              Procne, Philomela and Tereus
calms the Emperor and convinces him that she can persuade the “mad”                for carrion birds.                          Driven Insane, Book VI, Illustration
                                                                                                                                     from Ovid’s Metamorphoses
Titus to call off the attack. In the meantime, word is sent to Lucius
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Titus Andronicus Know-the-Show Audience Guide - researched and written by - The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                                    TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

Who’s Who
      in the Play
THE ROYALS:                                                                    CITIZENS OF ROME:
SATURNINUS: The eldest son of the dead emperor.                                AEMILIUS: a nobleman of Rome.
BASSIANUS: The youngest son of the dead emperor; betrothed to                  NURSE to Tamora
   Lavinia.                                                                    Senators, Tribunes, and Judges
                                                                               Supporters of Saturninus and Supporters of Bassianus for the empery
THE ANDRONICI:                                                                 Messengers and Soldiers in the Roman Army
TITUS ANDRONICUS: A celebrated general in the Roman army,
   returning victorious from a decade-long war with the Goths.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS: A tribune of Rome; brother to Titus.
LUCIUS: The eldest living son of Titus.
QUINTUS: A son of Titus.
MARTIUS: A son of Titus.
MUTIUS: The youngest living son of Titus.
LAVINIA: The only daughter to Titus; betrothed to Bassianus.
YOUNG LUCIUS: The son of Lucius; grandson of Titus.
PUBLIUS, SEMPRONIUS, and CAIUS: Relatives of Titus.

THE GOTHS:
TAMORA: Queen of the Goths; arrives in Rome as captive to Titus.
AARON: A Moor; lover to Tamora.
ALARBUS: The eldest son of Tamora.
DEMETRIUS: A son of Tamora.
CHIRON: A son of Tamora.
Soldiers in the Goth Army
                                                                       Costume renderings for Titus, Lavinia, and the Senators
                                                                       by Costume Designer Yao Chen © 2018.

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Titus Andronicus Know-the-Show Audience Guide - researched and written by - The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
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 The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                                  TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

Sources                                                                        contemporary works
                                                                               likely influenced the

      History                                                                  villainous character
                                                                               of Aaron, including
                                                                               Christopher
                                                                               Marlowe’s The Jew
Unlike his other Roman plays (Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra,             of Malta and George
and Coriolanus), Shakespeare’s The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie            Peele’s The Battell of
of Titus Andronicus did not evolve from any accepted Roman legend              Alcazar.
or history. The play appears to take place in the later Roman Empire,
but anachronistic details make it difficult to pinpoint a specific era.        Shakespeare is
Though no major source material for the play is known, numerous likely         believed to have
influences have been identified. An Italian prose narrative, The History       written Titus
of Titus Andronicus, the Renowned Roman General, and a ballad,                 Andronicus between                  Aaron Protecting His Son from Joseph Graves’
“Titus Andronicus’ Complaint,” appeared within a few years of the play,                                     Dramatic Tales Founded on Shakespeare’s Plays, 1840
                                                                               1588 and 1593, but
but since both works were anonymous and undated, scholars dispute              the precise year has
whether Shakespeare was influenced by these works or if these writers          been debated. Regardless, it is his earliest tragedy and closely resembles
were influenced by Shakespeare. Other potential inspirations for Titus         the popular revenge tragedies of the day. The abundant use of Latin
include the Gesta Romanorum, a popular collection of Latin tales dating        expressions and classical allusions – less frequent in later works – suggest
from the thirteenth century, and the works of fellow Elizabethan writers       a young playwright eager to prove himself. Some scholars suspect that
Matteo Bandello and William Painter, both of whom Shakespeare is               George Peele may have had a hand in writing portions of the play, while
known to have consulted later in his career.                                   others maintain that it is the work of Shakespeare alone. If there was
                                                                               a collaboration, Act One, Act Two Scene 1, and Act Four Scene 1 are
Although sources for the overall plot of Titus Andronicus have                 considered to be the most likely sections with contributions from Peele.
proven elusive, scholars have found clear inspirations for elements
of Shakespeare’s play. The rape and mutilation of Lavinia strongly             Philip Henslowe recorded the earliest known performance of Titus
resemble the attack on Philomela depicted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses              Andronicus in his diary on January 24, 1594. The play was a
VI. Philomela’s revenge against her attacker is very similar to the            tremendous box office success and it went on to be the most
acts of revenge enacted on Tamora in Titus Andronicus. Additionally,           profitable play of the 1594 season according to financial
Titus’ revenge plot parallels the revenge cycle of Seneca’s Thyestes, in       records of the time. The play was so popular that it was soon
which an enemy is tricked into devouring his own children. Several             published in quarto form later that same year, making it

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Titus Andronicus Know-the-Show Audience Guide - researched and written by - The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                                           TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

                                                                                                                  RITUAL AND REVENGE
                       THE PEACHAM DRAWING                                                  “...throughout the play the response to the intolerable is ritualized, in
                                                                                            language and action, because ritual is the ultimate means by which
The only Shakespeare play for which we have any contemporaneous illustrations
is Titus Andronicus. Discovered on a single Folio sheet, the image depicts
                                                                                            man seeks to order and control his precarious and unstable world.”
Tamora pleading to Titus to spare her son(s) from execution. Below the image ink            		                 -D.J. Palmer, from the Introduction
drawing is a handwritten passage of 40 lines of text, uniting several elements of           			                to the Arden Edition of Titus Andronicus
the play...and even inventing a few others. The text includes Tamora’s speech, and
abbreviated response from Titus and an invented line from Titus telling Aaron to
repent his evil ways. This important document is known as The Peacham Drawing,              the first of Shakespeare’s dramatic works to be published. There were
because, on the bottom of the page a 19th-century librarian penciled “Written by
                                                                                            two additional quarto printings of the play before it was included in The
Henry Peacham — author of The Complete Gentleman).
                                                                                            First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays in 1623.
Beyond the unique singularity of its existence, The Peacham Drawing also gives us
a glimpse into how plays were presented and costumed in Shakespeare’s day. As               Although tremendously popular in the Elizabethan and Jacobean
once can see, Tamora is dressed much like an English queen rather than a Goth.              eras, the extreme violence of Titus Andronicus made the tragedy
Titus wears an armored chestplate and toga-like sash, but the other soldiers are            distasteful to later audiences. After the Restoration of 1660, it was
adorned in what appear to be “modern” English and Celtic armor and attire. Aaron            one of the few Shakespeare plays not brought back to the stage. Only
and Tamora’s sons are decked in contemporaneous
                                                                                            modified versions of the play were produced in England until 1923,
Elizabethan-wear. Despite the ancient nature of the
                                                                                            when Shakespeare’s original text was finally staged by Robert Atkins
story, Shakespeare’s actors predominantly seem to be
dressed in everyday clothing with minor adjustments                                         during the Old Vic’s cycle of The Complete Works. Even so, directors
(armor, crowns, etc) to represent the status of the                                         remained leery of the piece until Peter Brooks’ critically acclaimed
character for which they are presenting.                                                    Royal Shakespeare Company production in 1955, which starred
                                                                                            Laurence Olivier as Titus, Vivien Leigh as Lavinia, and Antony Quayle
                                                                                            as Aaron. Since then, a steady flow of productions have been mounted,
                                                                                            with some attempting to portray the story’s gore realistically and others
                                                                                            choosing to portray it symbolically. Julie Taymor’s 1994 theatrical
                                                                                            production and similar 1999 film adaptation, entitled Titus, utilized a
                                                                                            mixture of ancient and modern design to highlight the timelessness of
                                                                                            the play’s violence. After being overlooked for several centuries, the
                                                                                            frighteningly relevant and often brutal themes of Titus Andronicus are
                                                                                            once again being explored by modern artists and audiences.

                           The Peacham Drawing; the earliest illustration of Shakespeare,
                                    and the only contemporaneous illustration, ca. 1595
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The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                                 TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

Titus
Andronicus
                                                                                as it may be, found in the play. Even in recent years, one can see the
                                                                                ever-increasing popularity of entertainments with a darker examination
                                                                                of the human experience with series like The Walking Dead, Game of
                                                                                Thrones, or films like The Purge, to name a few.

    A Play for Our Time?                                                           “In its willingness to confront violence, often in ways that are
                                                                                   simultaneously shocking and playful, our culture resembles that of
Shakespeare’s first tragedy was modeled on a popular theatrical genre of
                                                                                   the Elizabethans.”
the era, the revenge-tragedy. It was incredibly successful from the time
                                                                                   		            - Jonathan Bate, Introduction to the
it was written until the Puritans closed the London theatres in 1642.
                                                                                   		            Arden Edition of Titus Andronicus (1998)
When the theatres reopened in 1660, however, opinions had changed,
and Titus was suddenly considered a distasteful and inferior play. Many
                                                                                   “Titus Andronicus may have become more acceptable thanks to
scholars began to question whether Shakespeare had even written it.
                                                                                   screen violence, from Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs to Quentin
                                                                                   Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.”
   “The barbarity of the spectacles, and the general massacre
                                                                                   		          - Leslie Dunton-Downer & Alan Rider,
   which are here exhibited, can scarcely be conceived tolerable to
                                                                                   		          The Essential Shakespeare Handbook (2004)
   any audience.”      - Samuel Johnson (1765)

                                                                                   “Indeed, the piece still feels like a play for today. With such
   “(Titus is) one of the stupidest and most uninspired plays ever
                                                                                   horrors as Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and Iraq fresh in the
   written, a play in which it is incredible that Shakespeare had any
                                                                                   memory — the scenes of cruel depravity in Abu Ghraib might
   hand at all.”        - T.S. Eliot (1927)
                                                                                   have come straight from the twisted mind of Aaron, the drama’s
                                                                                   Marlovian chief villain — Titus Andronicus strikes an all-too-
The play was not seen in its original form on stage again until 1923 and
                                                                                   familiar contemporary chord.”
didn’t truly regain popularity until the mid 1950s. Since then, the play
                                                                                   		          - Charles Spencer, The Telegraph (2006)
has been presented regularly, though not frequently, in theaters. One
must question why the play, which had been left behind for over 300
                                                                                Regardless of why the play has returned to the popular canon, it
years, reemerged into the theatrical canon. Some argue that the world’s
                                                                                provides a striking look at the human soul; an examination of
understanding about the psychology of violence was forever altered
                                                                                how far one might go to save one’s family or enact revenge on
following the first and second world wars, allowing audiences to see
                                                                                someone who has wronged them.
another layer of the play. Others claim that cultural tastes had simply
changed, and audiences were ready to hear the beautiful poetry, as dark
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 The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                                                TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

Commentary                                                                         full vent to blood, cruelty, disaster, and revenge. Indeed, he went so far
                                                                                   that one can almost wonder if he weren’t deliberately pushing matters to

    Criticism
                                                                                   the limit in order to express his disgust for the whole genre.”
                                                                                   			Isaac Asimov, Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare

                                                                                   “This play is Shakespeare’s ultimate exploration of violence — religious
                                                                                   violence, domestic violence, political violence, sexual violence, punitive
“I believe... it (Titus Andronicus) was one of the dramatist’s most                violence. When Peter Brook directed this play, he had an ambulance
inventive plays, a complex and self-conscious improvisation upon                   waiting to shuttle audience members to the hospital. Sir Laurence
classical sources, most notably the Metamorphoses of Ovid.”                        Olivier, who played Titus, said at least three audience members fainted
			                       Jonathan Bate, from the Introduction to the              every evening.”
			Arden edition of Titus Andronicus                                               			                     Kenji Yoshino, Revenge as Revenant

“...Titus Andronicus is certainly the least satisfying Shakespearean               “In watching Titus Andronicus we come to understand ­— perhaps more
tragedy, it was also his first attempt at the genre, and it has features           than by looking at any other Shakespeare play — the nature of his genius:
that suggest the grander achievements to come. Although it is inferior             he gave an inner awareness to passions; cruelty ceased to be merely
to later work, it is a fine play by the standards of 1590; the young               physical. Shakespeare discovered the moral hell. He discovered heaven
Shakespeare was already a successful professional playwright.”                     as well. But he remained on earth.”
			Charles Boyce, Shakespeare A to Z                                               			Jan Cott, Shakespeare, Our Contemporary

“For all our ‘civilized’ disgust at the Elizabethans’ enthusiasm for public        “It seems like a play for today; it
disemboweling and mutilation, are we morally any better than them?                 reeks of now.”
Even though the amputations and cannibalism of Titus are not real, is                      Julie Taymor, director
there not real pleasure in their seeming to be? This is entertainment, but                 (from an interview with Charlie Rose
entertainment that goads us towards our own depravity — civilization                       on January 19, 2000)

and barbarity, as inseparable as two sides of a piece of paper.”
			TimesHigherEducation.co.uk

“These blood-and-thunder plays written about horrible crimes and
horrible revenges were immensely popular in Elizabethan times...
                                                                                       Costume renderings for Chiron and
Shakespeare had no objection to success and was perfectly willing to
                                                                                         Demetrius by Costume Designer
adjust himself to popular taste. In Titus Andronicus he therefore gave                                Yao Chen © 2018.
                                                                              11
Theatre
 The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                                  TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

                                                                                   WHAT DO I WEAR?
                                                                                   People often ask if shows

       in Shakespeare’s Day                                                        at The Shakespeare
                                                                                   Theatre will be performed
                                                                                   in “traditional dress” or
SEEING A PLAY VS. HEARING A PLAY                                                   “like real Shakespeare.”
Modern audiences go to the theater to see a play; but Shakespeare’s                This comes up even more
audiences would go to the theatre to hear a play. His audience was                 often with the history
much more attuned to the language of the play, the inflections of                  plays.
the actors’ voices, and rhythms of the poetry. This is not to say that                                            Will Kempe in The Nine Wonders, ca. 1600.
Shakespeare’s plays lacked visual interest; just that the visual elements          It is interesting to note
were not nearly as important as the language.                                      that, though often sumptuous and expensive, the costumes used in
                                                                                   Shakespeare’s plays were rarely correct to the period of the play. Most
We see this is, in some ways, true today, at least in the words we use to          often, actors were dressed in their finest attire (or clothes donated by
describe attending the theatre. People who attend the theater are most             wealthy patrons), and then these clothes were adorned with capes or
often referred to as an “audience” sharing the root of audio or sound in           crowns or other items denoting the character’s status. The shows in
the name. Conversely, people who attend movies are often referred to               Shakespeare’s day were simply put up too quickly to create elaborate
as “movie-goers;” sports enthusiasts are often referred to as “spectators.”        period-accurate costumes for the full company; noe did they have
                                                                                   the money to do so. Therefore, despite popular assumption, a more
                                                                                   accurate “traditional dress” approach to Shakespeare plays would
                                                                                   be to dress actors in their finest contemporary clothing adorned with
                                                                                   capes and crowns to denote status.

                                                                   Second          There were also very strict laws in Shakespeare’s day detailing what
                                                                   Globe           clothes, styles, and colors citizens were allowed to wear. This was
                                                                   Theatre,        a deliberate maneuver to reinforce the class structure of the era.
                                                                   detail from
                                                                   Hollar’s        Penalties for violating these Sumptuary Laws could be quite severe
                                                                   View of         ­— loss of property, imprisonment, fines, and even loss of title. These
                                                                   London,          Sumptuary Laws meant that fashionable clothes could only be worn
                                                                   1647.
                                                                                    by the wealthy and were often only seen at a distance.

                                                                              12
In
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                               TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

                                                                                 Scenic rendering, preliminary rendering
                                                                                 of the forest, and the model of the set
                                                                                 for Titus Andronicus by Scenic Designer

    this Production
                                                                                 Richard Block © 2018.

                                           Costume renderings for
                                Aaron, Saturninus, The Goddess of
                               Revenge, Bassianus, and the Roman
                                      Army by Costume Designer,
                                     Yao Chen © 2018.

                                                                    13
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                              TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

                       Explore Online
                                SHAKESPEARE WROTE IN MODERN ENGLISH. Despite
                                popular belief, Shakespeare did not write in Olde or even
                                Middle English. Take a listen to these samples of Olde and
                                Middle English for yourself.
                                https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL071DC49FD027E2A2

                                A link to the Folger Shakespeare Library’s Titus Andronicus page
                                http://www.folger.edu./titus-andronicus

                                Read the story of Philomela and King Tereus, which was the foundation
                                for Lavinia’s story in Titus Andronicus.
                                http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/t?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02
                                .0028%3Abook%3D6%3Acard%3D412

                                An exploration of race and relationships discussed in the BBC podcast
                                SHAKESPEARE: LOVE ACROSS THE RACIAL DIVIDE, with a focus on
                                Titus Andronicus.
                                https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07bc1tt

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&
 The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2018                                                   TITUS ANDRONICUS: Know-the-Show Guide

 Sources
  Further Reading
THE ANNOTATED SHAKESPEARE, Introductions, Notes, and                THEATRE: A WAY OF SEEING, Third Edition by Milly S. Barranger
        Bibliography by A.L. Rowe
                                                                    THE ESSENTIAL SHAKESPEARE HANDBOOK, by Leslie Dunton-Downer
A READER’S GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE by Muriel B. Ingham                        and Alan Riding
ASIMOV’S GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE by Isaac Asimov                       SHAKESPEARE SET FREE, edited by Peggy O’Brien
THE COMPLETE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE,                          SHAKING HANDS WITH SHAKESPEARE, by Alison Wedell Schumacher
        by Laurie Rozakis                                           THE ARDEN SHAKESPEARE: TITUS ANDRONICUS, edited by Jonathan
                                                                          Bate
FREEING SHAKESPEARE’S VOICE by Kristin Linklater
                                                                    THE NEW CAMBRIDGE SHAKESPEARE: TITUS ANDRONICUS, edited by
THE FRIENDLY SHAKESPEARE by Norrie Epstein                                Alan Hughes
                                                                    “NOTES ON TITUS ANDRONICUS” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
LECTURES ON SHAKESPEARE by W. H. Auden
                                                                    TITUS OUT OF JOINT: READING THE FRAGMENTED TITUS
THE MIRACLE OF LANGUAGE by Richard Lederer                                ANDRONICUS edited by Liberty Stanavage and Paxton Hehmeyer
SHAKESPEARE A TO Z by Charles Boyce
SHAKESPEARE AFTER ALL by Marjorie Garber
SHAKESPEARE FOR BEGINNERS by Brandon Toropov
SHAKESPEARE FOR DUMMIES by Doyle, Lischner, and Dench
SHAKESPEARE’S IMAGERY by Caroline Spurgeon
SHAKESPEARE IN PERFORMANCE, Consultant Editors Keith Parsons
        and Pamela Mason
SHAKESPEARE: THE INVENTION OF THE HUMAN by Harold Bloom
SHAKESPEARE OUR CONTEMPORARY by Jan Kott

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