“O, handle not the theme, to talk of hands,
Lest we remember still that we have none.”

WORKSHOP 1 – 11th August

First readthrough and discussions.

Topics explored included:

Rape
Act 1 – WTF
Aaron
Lavinia
Tamora
Violence on and off
3:1
Death
Titus and PTSD
Religion and politics
Rome?
Has the play intensified over time?
How do you cut someone’s hand off?
How do you stage Act 1? Cast requirements?
Revenge
Titus’ mistake
Why doesn’t Titus talk to us?
Family
WTF corner

WORKSHOP 2 – 25th August

Masterclass: Concept and Setting – The Company

A group-focused masterclass exploring the strengths and dangers of applying concepts and choosing settings for Shakespeare plays. What factors inform a production’s choice of setting? How might applying a concept enhance or hinder the story? Using examples from the group’s experiences of doing or watching Shakespeare, and testing ideas against scenes from Titus Andronicus, we aim to tackle head-on the key first questions of any Shakespeare production – “when do we set it? where do we set it? how do we stage it?”

“Why, I have not another tear to shed:
Besides, this sorrow is an enemy,
And would usurp upon my watery eyes
And make them blind with tributary tears:
Then which way shall I find Revenge’s cave?
For these two heads do seem to speak to me,
And threat me I shall never come to bliss
Till all these mischiefs be return’d again
Even in their throats that have committed them.”