Reader Reviews
Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | I saw this performance twice in June and thought it was superb -both times! - 67.176.185.66) | 18 Sep 06 |
| Given the appearance of some Goths chanting football songs, it is perhaps appropriate to describe this production as a "game of two halves". A magnificent first half fully portrays the increasing cycle of malevolent cruelty, revenge and escalating grief. However, after the interval we are presented with more of a black farce. In particular, Douglas Hodge's Titus is portrayed as a gibbering idiot rather than a man driven insane by unimaginable horrors visited upon him. Some of the supporting performances are exceptional; Laura Rees as a dignified Lavinia, Geraldine Alexander's Machiavellian Tamora and particularly Shaun Parkes as Aaron; in the language of the play, a truly black villain. This is an exceptional version of a long-neglected play but I feel it could have been even better if everyone had had the nerve to maintain the tone of the first half. - 62.6.139.13) | 07 Aug 06 |
| What a hoot! Rarely have I had so much fun watching Shakespeare. This is why I love the globe, I have seen so much theatre and fine sometimes it's nice to look for relevance but when your having this much fun who cares. The old chin waggers at the sunday times regurely slate this theatre but the critics, as with many things, just dont get it. This is Shakespeare for the masses, opened up, charismatic and there to be enjoyed. This is a superlative Globe experience a production of Shakespeare's goriest feast. Fine the action drags in places but the charming performances from the likes of Doug Hodge and Shaun Parkes and if we're talking about relevance the uncovering of the raped Lavinia was one of the most shocking sights I have viewed on the London stage, I have never heard so quiet an audience. People were laughing not because the show was bad but because all the moments of brutality were brought off with such aplomb that nervous laughs were emitted. Top draw! - 80.225.173.14) | 26 Jul 06 |
| Finally, a male lead in this Globe season who really rises to the challenge! Douglas Hodge is absolutely fantastic as Titus. He had us enthralled and hanging on his every word and action from start to finish. Shaun Parkes is pitch perfect as the villanous theatrical Aaron. The play is also brilliantly designed and the theatre space is used very well. My one cavil is that the depths of pain are not always fully opened up. Some of this is down to a stiffness in some of the younger actors, but I also felt the leads weren't always given the enviroment to hit the overwhelming despair of the play. I suspect that this was because the director felt very pleased with herself for hitting on a great concept and then sat back and let the actors and the designer do all the work. However, the overall experience is an absorbing and affecting one. - 62.31.40.29) | 16 Jul 06 |
| This play is done so seldom that any production of it must rank as virtually unmissable!! It certainly isn't one of Shakespeare's finest plays but the gallows humour and a cracking plot have a grim fascination in Lucy Bailey's lucid, intelligent if overlong production. The towers being wheeled aroung the Yard are a nice touch, as is Titus' triumphant entrance with the captured Goths in tow. I was haunted by Laura Rees' post-trauma Lavinia also. Inevitably, given the nature of the space, there's not alot of subtlety in the acting but Douglas Hodge as Titus, Geraldine Alexander's scheming Queen and above all Shaun Parkes' evil Aaron make strong impression. Rough, bloody, visceral, this is worth seeing but maybe not for the faint-hearted. - 195.82.123.181) | 26 Jun 06 |
| great production with suberb performances from all actors. The language of the play is wonderfully evocative and it well spoken in what is a sad story of revenge that prefigures Lear and Hamlet. Some really touching moments. The groundlings who are part of the action cannot but be moved; several fainted during the show - 195.195.7.61) | 14 Jun 06 |
| Utterly compelling. A production that truly could not be staged anywhere else and that provides compelling insights into what is often classified as a 'difficult' play. Once the staging has been accommodated by the viewer it is a truly rich feast both visually and aurally. Highly recommended - 62.255.32.15) | 08 Jun 06 |
| Well, we can dispose of Maxwell Cooter's "central mysteries" of the play pretty quickly. 1)Saturninus believes Titus' sons guilty because it's convenient to him - he hated and feared his brother, and was slighted by Titus' family in his attempt to marry Lavinia. 2)Titus realises what has happened to Lavinia's hands at line 65 of III/1 (Bailey's production, like the text makes this clear). The next but one line is "Speak Lavinia, what accursed hand hath made thee handless etc". Hardly a long wait - but evidently too long for WoS's intrepid reviewer. Now I appreciate the whole point of this "mysteries" jag was so our Max could set up some feeble joke about Doug Hodge's accent. But did he have to reveal such ignorance for a cheap jibe? Perhaps this lack of understanding of the play contributed to the 3 stars he gave it. He's wrong - it's a great production in a difficult space and thoroughly deserves the 5 stars I here give it. - 195.54.229.238) | 06 Jun 06 |
| Quite simply the best production I have ever seen at The Globe. Brilliant use of the auditorium - platform trolleys and promenade feel. Really inspired stagin makes the audience feel part of teh action. The Right balance between horror and laughter. Fantastic music including a reworking of Hey Baby! Douglas Hodge is terrific as Titus and the Actress playing Lavinia is compelling but the star turn goes to the actor playing Aaron who languidly revels in his own evil. The play is fantastic and in keeping with a modern sensibilty for random vilence and crulety but this production gives it an urgency and power never seen before. Enjoy!! - 86.130.73.7) | 02 Jun 06 |
| The second production at this year's season is even better than the first. It is a beautifully staging that uses the space to tremendous effect with an ensemble cast that has no weak links. Lucy Bailey directs with vigour and grabs the audience by the short and curlies especially at the climax to the first half where every ounce of terror and pity is wrung from the bard's superb language. This production cleverly walks a tightrope between catharsis and levity, and though the humour is not as potent as in the production of Coriolanus, there are knife edge moments where the spellbound groundlings are schizophrenically teeteering at the abyss. Titus's descent to that place is totally believable, and it is a masterful performance spoken with a wonderful feel for the language. A minor cavil is that on the wet afternoon perfomance at which I was lucky enough to be present last week, part of the"if there reasons for these miseries speech" was cut. Apart from that, the language was not mangled though bodies were, and there were one or two audience participants in the spectacle who like Titus "were given leave to ease their stomachs..." A memorable afternoon... there was such a swell of relief to be able to jig around the yard at the end with the actors and applaud a truly magnificent piece of work . Shakespeare has never been better served than at the Globe. - 62.164.248.196) | 29 May 06 |
| This second Globe 2006 production even betters the first in both the staging and performances. Lucy Bailey uses the whole Globe ground floor and stage space to great effect. Douglas Hodge gets Titus just right in his descent into blackly comic madness. From a very good ensemble, I have to single out Shaun Parkes who is a superb Aaron. Bill Dudley's design only has one flaw - the black lycra shorts ! I don't know whether it is to spare the actor's blushes or to keep them warm, but it is certainly incongruous. I went on a wet Saturday afternoon and somehow the rain added something - though it made the goth's tattoos run ! - 86.130.201.183) | 28 May 06 |
