Having directed a production of this really sadistic
play, and after shuddering through Julie Taymor’s gruesome film TITUS, I am
always reluctant to attend live performances of this play. Well, a braver soul
than I, name of Mikey Mulhearn, just gave the lie to my timidity with a bold production
at the Kimpton Everly Hotel in Hollywood. Mulhearn presents non-traditional
Shakespeare with his gender-bending company SHAKESPEARE ON THE DECK now in its
2nd year.
My theater colleague, costume designer Tricia Stubbs,
has been urging me to come along and see for myself the unique approach of this
new group. Here are her comments after attending a performance of Titus last
month:
“This play was first performed somewhere
between 1590-1594 making it one of his earlier plays and his first tragedy. The
setting tells the story of the fictional Roman general, Titus Andronicus, who
comes back from a 10-year war with the Goths where he has lost 21 of his sons.
He returns with Tamora, Queen of the Goths, as hostage with her 3 sons. When he
sacrifices her eldest son in revenge for his own dead sons, he sets off a chain
of horror starting with the rape and mutilation of his own daughter.
This production was both brilliant and
powerful, each character well defined, each actor speaking their lines clearly,
distinctly and with true passion. Shah Granville (Titus), Keaton Shyler
(Tamora), Nima Rad (Lavinia) and Jahel Caldera (Aaron the Moor) head this
superb gender neutral and race neutral company. Although there was no comic
relief in this play, the fact that a white liquid was used in place of red
blood lightened this otherwise very heavy show.”
Mulhearn directs his own adaptations of each play and transforms the space beneath the hotel’s Everbar into a fantastic otherworld. A new program, "Shakes After Dark," will include folio classes, public readings, fight nights, and free Shakespeare in a bar. For info: www.shakesonthedeck.com
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