Scene from “Titus Andronicus.”
Photo by Carol Rosegg
Of course, it’s going to be a bloodbath.
Limbs are severed. A young woman is brutally mutilated. Revenge piles upon revenge until the stage is practically drowning in it. And, yes, enemies are baked into a pie and served for dinner. That’s the deal with “Titus Andronicus,” Shakespeare’s earliest — and most notoriously grotesque — tragedy, one that remains more fascinating than satisfying, no matter how well it’s done.
Which makes it a natural fit for Red Bull Theater, the Off-Broadway company that has built a niche staging muscular revivals of rarely performed classical works, often with a taste for the violent. Their new staging, directed by Jesse Berger and starring Patrick Page (who also adapts the text), is sharp and fast-moving.
Whether it actually redeems the material is another question. Going in, I wondered whether this might finally feel like the moment for “Titus Andronicus” — whether its chaos, cruelty, and political unraveling might land with a new sense of urgency. It doesn’t quite get there.
The story unfolds like a nightmare fueled by pride and bad decisions. Titus, a celebrated Roman general, returns home from war with prisoners in tow, including Tamora, Queen of the Goths. When he orders the ritual execution of her son, he sets off a cycle of revenge that quickly spins out of control.
Berger leans into that idea from the start. The Romans appear in stark, militaristic uniforms that carry unsettling modern echoes, and the opening sacrifice is staged with chilling calm. Later, Tamora’s sons are hoisted upside down like carcasses in a slaughterhouse before they meet their fate. Blood splatters across the white columns that dominate the set, a constant reminder of the escalating brutality.
At the same time, Berger doesn’t pretend the material isn’t ridiculous. The staging occasionally nudges the audience to recognize that, especially during the climactic banquet, which plays out to “What a Wonderful World” as Tamora unknowingly eats her sons. The audience responds in kind — uneasy laughter one moment, stunned silence the next. That push and pull — between horror and dark comedy — is where things find their footing.
Page’s adaptation keeps the action brisk, but it can’t fully tame the story. Even so, the constant escalation starts to feel less shocking than exhausting by the second half. Still, the staging remains consistently engaging. Berger makes smart use of the intimate theater, with actors appearing in the balcony and aisles to suggest a larger world.
At the center is Page, a formidable Shakespearean actor whose deep, resonant voice does a lot of the heavy lifting. He plays Titus as a man governed by ritual and honor — which is exactly what leads him to ruin. From the outset, this is not a particularly sympathetic figure: Titus coldly orders the ritual execution of Tamora’s son in full view, carrying it out in a businesslike, almost casual manner that underscores his rigidity and lack of compassion. Page doesn’t try to soften the character, but he makes him understandable. In the final scenes, wearing a baker’s hat as he prepares his revenge, he leans into the role’s grim theatricality without pushing it too far.
The standout performance comes from McKinley Belcher III as Aaron the Moor, Tamora’s lover and the story’s chief troublemaker. Belcher brings real presence and bite to the role, making Aaron both charismatic and unsettling.
Francesca Faridany’s Tamora is cool and controlled, while Matthew Amendt, as the Roman emperor Saturninus, plays up the role’s volatility and ego, leaning into its more exaggerated edges. The ensemble handles the constant tonal shifts as well as anyone could.
In the end, this is about as effective a take on “Titus Andronicus” as you’re likely to see. But it also reinforces a familiar conclusion: this is a work that’s easier to admire than to fully embrace.
Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 W. 42nd St., redbulltheater.com. Through April 19.
→ Continue reading at amNY
