No trailer
One of the main issues confronting the director of this play is how to approach the violence – strictly symbolic? ultra ‘splatter-house realistic’ or a half-way house between the two? Here the director went for strictly symbolic, with the murders and mutilations very simply represented by the use of red ribbons manipulated by the killer – or, in the case of Lavinia and Titus with the loss of their hands, judicious use of a red glove. This along with the dark modern costumes – modern military for the men (although the appearance of the Romans and Goths was not markedly differentiated which was a pity but the role and appearance of the Goths was anyway minimalized, as it was a cut version of the text) and. A white (of course) shift for Lavinia and a smart tight black. cocktail dress for Tamora, very effectively set off by black. lipstick and dark eyeliner.
The venue was tiny – essentially - a cellar with a low curved stone roof – but the acoustics were excellent and my Hungarian-speaking friend said that the words were crystal clear and that he did not miss anything. The set, such as it was, was minimal – a grubby, sandy-coloured sheet on the floor surrounded by black walls, suggesting a Beckettian post-apocalyptic landscape. This worked well as it threw the focus on the performers and they well rose to the challenge. This was supported by an imaginative soundscape, not overused with harsh dissonances evoking the damaged world of the play.
I initially felt that Peter Bazil Koleszar was rather underwhelming as Titus but as his performance continued I realized that he was smartly building up to the climax and that his steady quietness at the start was a deliberate ploy. This was an effective approach as his final madness was not hysterical but the result of a gradual decline under intolerable pressure. Dobay Janka as Lavinia made what she could of a tricky part where the character is really nothing more than the sum of events which happen to her. Laszlo Kassai as Aaron was slyly effective although one missed much with this part, and that of Chiron and Demetrius, with the language barrier as the humorous aspects of their roles and interplay was necessarily lost.
A highly enjoyable evening then and I will keep a look out for more Shakespeare by this company (and others). For this, the Facebook algorithm, which flags events that one, has shown an interest in the past (in this case, Shakespeare performance is to be congratulated. I did not expect to write this sentence, tbh!