'Titus Andronicus' Off-Broadway review — Patrick Page takes command of Shakespeare's bloody revenge tragedy

Read our review of Titus Andronicus off Broadway, Red Bull Theater's revival of Shakespeare's tragedy starring Hadestown Tony Award nominee Patrick Page.

Summary

• Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus centers on a cycle of violence and revenge among the members of an ancient Roman family
• Patrick Page delivers a commanding performance as a military general-turned-vengeful father
• The show is recommended for Shakespeare fans who want to see one of his lesser-staged works but is not recommended for those sensitive to blood and gore

Red Bull Theater’s revival of the lesser-staged Shakespeare tragedy Titus Andronicus is flush with scarlet: in an ornately embroidered curtain, a ribbon tied around a black box, blood on a grey column on the stage, and most of all, Patrick Page’s face.

Veins popping and skin glistening, Page is so fully committed to the titular Roman veteran’s anguish that every ounce of blood seems to flood his cheeks and forehead. Director Jesse Berger gives Titus a lighter touch, spattering its most gruesome moments with a comic energy that keenly relieves the tension. But Page’s down-to-earth desperation and fury, emphasized by the shining beet red of his face, as he learns of his daughter Lavinia’s (Olivia Reis) rape and mutilation are hard to shake.

Page's decadent baritone commands attention without pleading for it, and he transitions easily from the towering general to the lower-key civilian father making sense of a new political regime under which he no longer serves. Page’s effortlessness also proves productive in playing a war hero who, after decades living according to code, reflects little upon the atrocities he himself has committed, not least of all the murder of a man (Blair Baker) in front of his mother, Tamora, Queen of the Goths (Francesca Faridany). Page and Berger suggest that this tunnel vision is as tragic and horrifying as any of the literal violence committed.

The mostly shrewd deployment of black comedy throughout the show accentuates Titus Andronicus’s most horrific elements: not just the ravaging of Lavinia (Reis’s screams echo long after the show has ended), but also Tamora’s encouragement of her savage sons (Jesse Aaronson and Adam Langdon) and the near-murder of Aaron, Tamora’s lover (McKinley Belcher III). Berger endows the characters' choices, and their lack of doubt when making them, with horror, while transforming its moments of bloodletting into Grand Guignol.

Page is well-paired against Faridany’s Tamora, who sees her quest for revenge as equally righteous. She has the sparkling wrath of someone once vulnerable to the system who can now wield all its power for herself. Faridany’s rasp gives every word fangs, displaying a woman capable of unimaginable terror in the wake of that which she experienced. In this rage, both she and Page also allow flashes of their pain to flow forth into the audience, like a river of blood.

Titus Andronicus summary

Roman general Titus Andronicus brings back Tamora, Queen of the Goths, and her children as prisoners of war and slaves for the new Roman Emperor, Saturninus, murdering her eldest before her eyes in the process. When Saturninus takes Tamora as his wife after being rejected by Titus's daughter, Lavinia, Tamora, now Empress of Rome, plots revenge against Titus. Titus responds with scheming of his own after horrors are wrought upon Lavinia, and he and Tamora chart a journey of bloodshed.

What to expect at Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus, as a kind of revenge thriller, is not for the faint of heart. But set against Beowulf Boritt’s antiseptic grey and steel set and Jiyoun Chang’s subtle but effective lighting (excepting a few scenes, almost entirely neutrally lit), Berger’s production creates a compelling tension between its minimalism and spectacle. Most of the show's intensity lies in the performances, but it bleeds (no pun intended) into Emily Rebholz’s costumes, featuring sapphire slips, black horns and a whip, and leather cat attire. Titus Andronicus reaches its most delirious heights when it is bloodletting, with healthy splashes of gore throughout.

What audiences are saying about Titus Andronicus

Theatregoers have largely praised this production on online forums like the theatre review and tracking app Mezzanine.

• “Patrick Page was amazing!! Loved all the blood and gore! I haven’t seen Shakespeare done professionally before, and this was the perfect show to start off with.” - Mezzanine user Audrey Latt
• “Terrific cast in one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest and campiest of plays. The direction leaned right into the camp and grand-guignol and the audience ate it up.” - Mezzanine user Tommy R
• “I have never seen this play on stage (except for directing it) and this production went full out bloody and violent. Patrick Page led an absolutely incredible cast. Having seen Mr. Page in Cymbeline, this was a no-brainer choice.” - Mezzanine user John Fagan

Who should see Titus Andronicus

• Titus Andronicus is a bit of a Shakespeare B-side and is less frequently staged (the last major production in New York was in 2015), so this is your chance to see it live.
• Patrick Page and Francesca Faridany display both their characters’ brutality and their brokenness in captivating performances.
• Red Bull Theater continues to do impressive work with more obscure titles, and their choice to revive Titus Andronicus continues their streak of finding new ways of engaging with complicated and underproduced shows.

Learn more about Titus Andronicus

Jesse Berger’s Titus Andronicus wields Patrick Page’s otherworldly powers as a performer and a bleak sense of humor to survey revenge and cruelty as poisoned meat pies: at once delicious and sickening.

Learn more and get Titus Andronicus tickets on New York Theatre Guide. Titus Andronicus is at the Pershing Square Signature Center through May 3.

Photo credit: Titus Andronicus off Broadway. (Photos by Carol Rosegg)