[NEohioPAL] Review of "Titus: A Grand and Gory Rock Musical" at Cleveland Public Theatre

[Bob Abelman]

Shakespeare gets a musical makeover in CPT's flawed but fun 'Titus' 

 

Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the Cleveland Jewish News on 3/14/14

 

 

"Titus Andronicus" is Shakespeare's first and, arguably, his worst tragedy.  In 1678, English dramatist Edward Ravenscroft referred to it as "indigested. a heap of rubbish."

 

It is Shakespeare's bloodiest and most violent tragedy as well, which is why, in 1765, scholar Samuel Johnson deemed the work "unstageable" and theater companies have agreed ever since.

 

And, because of its uncharacteristic barbarism and inferior writing, "Titus" is the play that likely launched the centuries-old rumor that some of Shakespeare's plays may well have been penned by playwright Christopher Marlowe, essayist Francis Bacon, adventurer Walter Raleigh, dramatist George Peele, William Stanley, the 6th Earl of Derby, or Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. 

 

Indigested.  Unstageable.  Uncharacteristic.  And now playing at Cleveland Public Theatre.

 

Actually, what is playing is a revisited, reinvented world premiere version of "Titus Andronicus" that has been filtered through the wonderfully demented mind of adopter/director Craig J. George.  The result is the guilty pleasure that is "Titus: A Grand and Gory Rock Musical."

 

"Limbs are torn off, tongues are cut out.and everybody sings," announces the production's promotional poster.  Yes they are, yes they do, and sometimes in that particular order.  

 

There is no escaping the fact that Shakespeare's text, such that it is, lies at the heart of this production and around which all of George's modifications revolve. 

 

"Titus" is set during the later days of the Roman Empire and tells the fictional story of Titus Andronicus (Dana Hart), an honored general in the Roman army.  Titus has returned to his family (Amiee Collier, Justine Kunstler Zapin) from war, accompanied by his prisoners Tamora, Queen of the Goths (Alison Garrigan), her deranged sons (Val Kozlenko and Pat Miller), and her secret lover, Aaron the Moor (Lawrence Charles).  Upon learning that few of his sons have returned from battle alive, Titus sacrifices one of Tamora's sons, thus enraging Tamora - who has married the Emperor Saturninus (Matt O'Shea) - and setting off the bloody cycle of revenge and retaliation that drives the play and kills nearly everyone in it.  

 

To this, George has added original songs by Dennis Yurich and Alison Garrigan, who have performed in the similarly irreverent "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" and "The Rocky Horror Show" and whose influence is heard here.  The music is played by a superb, slightly visible backstage band that consists of Brad Wyner (Conductor, keyboards), John Fitzpatrick Pringpuangkeo (guitar), Tim Pringpuangkeo (upright & electric bass) and Richard Kline (drums).  

 

The music is augmented by Jon Conley, a strolling minstrel with a wailing electric guitar who sets the subversive tone for this production from the get-go in the song "Revenge Served." 

 

George has also embellished the dark humor found residing in Shakespeare's occasionally clever wordplay and, with the assistance of Jenniver Sparano's goth costuming, Todd S. Krispinsky's post-apocalyptic set design and Ben Gantose's eerie lighting, he imbues the production with a modern, industrial sensibility.  Carlton Guc's sound design enriches everyone else's work when it chooses to be operational.  When it does not, words spoken on stage go by the wayside.

 

The guts and gore, of which there is plenty, come courtesy of P.J. Toomey. 

 

The finished product on the Gordon Square Theatre stage is stylistically messy and the best one can hope for in a piece of post-hoc playwriting.  This production is more of a makeover than an overhaul, with assorted parts added on that do not always fit together comfortably or consistently.   

 

Consequently, the play is deliciously over the top from time to time but not nearly enough.  The best of times is delivered by Matt O'Shea as the wonderfully deranged Emperor Saturninus and Pat Miller, whose quick-switches between his good and evil characters are burlesque at its best.  Justine Kunstler Zapin's subtle antics as the dismantled Lavinia are hilarious.

 

This adaption also takes the original material very seriously upon occasion, but those occasions seem random, even arbitrary.  Doing yeomen's work on the Shakespeare-speak is Dana Hart as Titus and Lawrence Charles as Aaron the Moor.   

 

When the dust settles, the evening proves to be quite entertaining.  So sit back and enjoy the folly you see before you in the guise of a revenge story and classic tragedy.  After all, how many people in the last 400 years can actually claim to have had fun watching "Titus Andronicus"?  

 

WHAT:            "Titus: A Grand and Gory Rock Musical"

WHERE:        Cleveland Public Theatre, 6415 Detroit Avenue, Gordon Square 

WHEN:           Through Saturday, March 22

TICKETS:       $12 - $26.  Call 216-631-2727 x501, or visit www.cptonline.org 


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