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Modern Revenge: Renegade Theatre Experiment's latest production puts a modern twist on William Shakespeare's 'Titus Andronicus.' Michael Jerome West plays Titus, leader of a motorcycle gang who returns triumphant from battle only to be plunged into his own bloody hell.
RTE's bloody 'Titus Andronicus' travels from Rome to contemporary biker gangs
By Mary Gottschalk
When most people think of William Shakespeare they think of Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream or maybe The Tempest. Few, if any, think of Titus Andronicus--which makes it the perfect play for Renegade Theatre Experiment's latest production, opening Jan. 25 at Historic Hoover Theatre.
Peter Canavese, one of the six founders of Renegade and an English and drama instructor at Bellarmine College Preparatory, is directing the production.
"We'd had quite a bit of success with Macbeth when we did it a few years ago, and we were thinking of doing another Shakespeare play if we could decide on one to fit the Renegade mold," he says. "Titus Andronicus seemed to be the obvious choice.
"It's one of Shakespeare's earliest plays, and it has a youthful vigor. Oftentimes, it's compared to a Quentin Tarantino film because it's so violent and gory and energetic.
"It also has Shakespeare's gift for tragedy. It's a terrible tragedy with consequences for his family and individuals."
However, what grabbed Canavese's imagination was a suggestion from Sean Murphy, artistic director of RTE.
Murphy suggested adapting the play from its original setting in ancient Rome to modern outlaw motorcycle gangs.
Initially, Canavese admits he balked.
"I thought, 'this isn't going to work'. I'm a traditionalist at heart with Shakespeare," he recalls.
Then, Murphy handed Canavese a copy of Angels of Death--Inside the Biker Gangs' Crime Empire by Julian Sher and William Marsden.
"I found pretty startling correlations between real crimes on record inside these gangs and specific scenes in the play," Canavese says.
"In the play, there's a beheading and one character has her tongue cut out, and both of those have been retributions dealt out by outlaw gangs. It fits surprisingly well, and it's the only modern setting that I would buy putting the play in that would really make sense.
"These things happen under the radar of our daily lives. These guys are out there. They're vicious and they're psychopathic."
Canavese adapted Titus Andronicus, he says, "In the same way a filmmaker would do it. It's 95 percent Shakespeare, and we're using the original text."
Even then, it's not an easy play to stage.
"It's known as the play where an actor comes on stage carrying two severed heads and a hand," Canavese says. "Cannibalism is involved, and there's a huge body count.
"Most people aren't familiar with the personal story of the play, which is about this man who has devoted his life to his country. In the original script, it's the Empire of Rome.
"In our version, he's devoted his life to outlaw motorcycle gangs, and he wants to settle down and retire, but he gets drawn into a whole lot of trouble.
"He has a chance to show mercy to a captured enemy, and he doesn't, and that has consequences.
"It's a revenge play, and Titus is on the receiving end of that--Titus and his family."
There have been technical obstacles to staging the play.
"We've been holding meetings on how to do the special effects," Canavese says.
"The play calls for a hand to be cut off on stage and throats to be slit on stage. It requires careful planning."
Canavese admits that audience tolerance for blood and gore varies.
"In a film, it would be PG-13 and you'd say it's normal, but on stage, it's somehow more intense," he says.
"It's a play that surprises the actors every night in rehearsal--trying to imagine these unimaginable situations. Things happen very quickly, it's fast-paced and it has great characters."
"There's an intensity, but the nice thing is it's good for you.
"It's Shakespeare, and it's good for your brain to hear his language and it is wonderful poetry.
"Even though it's not his most famous lines, it's still incomparable."
Renegade Theatre Experiment's "Titus Andronicus," Historic Hoover Theatre, 1635 Park Ave. Performances are at 8 p.m. Jan. 25-27, Feb. 1-3 and Feb. 8-10 and 2p.m. Jan. 28 and Feb. 4. Tickets $13-$20. For information, visit www.renegadetheatre.com or call 408.351.4400.
