I love Titus Andronicus, it's mad, violent and bloody and don't think it would be a spoiler to say that almost everyone dies and, unlike a lot of Shakespeare's plays, the deaths happen on stage in front of us
Titus returns triumphant from war with Tamora, Queen of the Goths, her three sons and her lover Aaron as prisoners. Titus sacrifices Tamora's eldest son and thus setting the revenge monster free. Tamora persuades her remaining two sons to avenge her by raping his daughter Lavinia and murdering her betrothed Bassianus. Titus' sons are falsely accused and executed for the murder and now it its Titus' turn to rage and vow revenge and so sends his son Lucius to the Goths to raise an army. Titus' revenge is 'tasty', killing Tamora's sons he bakes them in a pie and serves them up to their mother at a celebratory banquet. The banquet then turns into a feast of blood and murder with Lucius Andronicus, as the last man standing, being declared emperor.
This production does not shy away from the blood and death, even adding a couple more on stage deaths for good measure. Are they gratuitous? Possibly. But, this play is over the top and I believe that the only way to make it work is to realise the ridiculousness which is what Michael Fentiman has tried to do.
Stephen Boxer seemed to relax into Titus as his performance unfolded and he had enormous fun with his feigned madness, particularly in the final banquet scene. Katy Stephen's Tamora, Queen of the Goths, was terrific and brutally sexy with her two young sons, thugs with hoodies and BMX's. These two, Demetrius (Perry Milward) and Chiron (Jonny Weldon) worked for me by virtue of their extreme youthfulness, baby faced rapists, and their ultimate demise at the hands of Titus was 'bloody' marvellous. I am of the opinion that this play lives or, for want of a better word, dies on the success of the final banquet scene and in the reactions of those who survive the carnage. This was an unapologetic festival of murder and bloodshed conducted by a gleeful Titus and I loved it.
So after an evening which included in excess of 11 murders, 1 hanging, 1 rape, 1 filicide, several amputations and a cannibal banquet - was I satisfied? Yes I was.
