Theatre review: Titus Andronicus(Sam Wanamaker Playhouse)

Going into the Swanamaker's tenth year, creatives haven't yet got over the novelty of the candlelit playhouse and the idea of using it as a theme in their productions. Usually it's the unique way light and darkness work in there that provide the inspiration, but in Jude Christian's new production it's the physical candles and wax that take on a new significance. And the play is Titus Andronicus so that significance is, obviously, connected to death and maiming. In the first production I saw, Katy Stephens played Tamora, Titus' nemesis. In this all-female cast she gets to switch places to the title role: In this completely invented chapter of Shakespeare's Roman plays, Titus is a decorated general, most of whose 25 sons have died defending Rome. The remainder, as well as his sole daughter Lavinia (Georgia-May Myers) become collateral damage in a more personal battle, after he sacrifices the eldest son of defeated Goth queen Tamora (Kirsten Foster.)

Titus is instrumental in making the deranged Saturninus (Lucy McCormick) the next Emperor, but far from undying gratitude his family manages to immediately offend the new ruler. He makes Tamora his empress, immediately giving her the resources to enact revenge.

Essentially the play is a back-and-forth between Titus and Tamora, taking their revenge by plotting to maim or kill each other's children. It's a play that's spent recent years being re-evaluated as a piece of grimly funny, entertaining theatre, after often being dismissed as a minor, cruel work, and Christian's production opens with a comedy song that reclaims it as both an entertainment and having a deeper purpose: The schadenfreude of watching these characters' lives will make us feel better about our own for a few hours. Although, ironically since the song keeps referring to the upcoming bloodbath, the production itself is completely bloodless, in a literal sense at least.

In a design (by Rosie Elnile and Grace Venning) that nods at Chinese themes, with the entire cast in silk pyjamas and tight plaited ponytails, the light of the candles represents life, and on the back wall is a pulley system with a vat of wax on each end. When a character first enters, they take and light a candle from stage right before announcing their name; when they die, they pull the bucket on the other end like a bell and exit, while the pain and violence is inflicted not on the actor but their candle; when Titus and Lavinia lose hands, it's represented by the actors' hands being encased in wax. If this idea of fire being lit and snuffed out to represent life and death seems minimalist, the execution is nothing of the sort: Once someone's got a rival's candle in their hands they tend to go ballistic, chopping pieces off, flinging them around the stage, and going at them with a collection of power tools, meat grinders and food processors.

It means that despite dialling down the literal violence, Christian has still kept, if not increased, the frantic, comic insanity of everyone's actions. This is my fifth Titus Andronicus and it's always interesting to see how they balance the comedy and tragedy in the play - here we're mostly leaning into the former, except in a couple of scenes like the rape of Lavinia where it would be inappropriate. McCormick's Saturninus is a particularly camp comic figure, a swivel-eyed overgrown child of a supervillain who immediately makes it clear we're in the Caligula ballpark of mad Roman Emperors. But it feels like all the actors have been given the freedom to go really broad and unpredictable with their characterisations, so Daneka Etchells' Lucius ends up quite a stroppy, obstructive son despite his father's obviously dangerous temperament.

Kibong Tanji's Aaron is comparatively low-key, and even gets a reprieve from the fate Shakespeare has for him, but he still gets the biggest laugh with what is argued to be the original Your Mum joke. The production's biggest running gag though is Beau Holland pulling octuple duty as all the characters who get killed off mere minutes after being first introduced, and looking increasingly peeved about it. These even include the fly killed by Sophie Russell's Marcus, but most memorably she plays both of Titus' youngest sons, jumping around the set to have a conversation with herself as they get tricked into a pit to be framed for the murder of Bassianus (who was also, of course, played by Holland.)

I never know if it's the uncomfortable seating in the Swanamaker meaning I'm in pain by the end or if the show itself feels a bit too long - by the time Tamora turns up with Chiron (Mei Mei MacLeod) and Demetrius (Mia Selway) to impersonate Revenge, Rape and Murder, I was more than ready for things to come to their bloody end. At least when the time comes that's just the natural conclusion of all the madness, as the climactic banquet just devolves into a frenzy of mangled candles. Certainly another memorable Titus, and having once again gone with someone who'd never seen it before I can say Phill's response was the hallmark of seeing a good version of this play - he already was looking forward to seeing how a different production would handle the madness.

Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare is booking in reportory until the 15th of April at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.

Running time: 2 hours 55 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Camilla Greenwell.