Katy Stephens and Kibong Tanji in Titus Andronicus
(Picture: Camilla Greenwell)There’s a reason Shakespeare’s early Roman revenge play is seldom done: it’s a mix of the horrific and the absurd, a nihilistic race to the bottom embracing rape, murder, mutilation and cannibalism. Successful productions embrace the gore and excess. This one removes the claret completely.
Directed by Jude Christian, this production features an all-female or non-binary ensemble to no obvious purpose or effect, and is almost decorous. Cluttered with conceptual gimmicks, well-spoken but bloodless, it’s the sort of show a well-heeled girls’ school might mount.
