Editing Titus Andronicus (section)

==Performance==
The earliest definite recorded performance of ''Titus'' was on 24 January 1594, when Philip Henslowe noted a performance by Sussex's Men of ''Titus & ondronicus''. Although Henslowe does not specify a theatre, it was most likely The Rose. Repeated performances were staged on 28 January and 6 February. On 5 and 12 June, Henslowe recorded two further performances of the play, at the Newington Butts Theatre by the combined [[Admiral's Men]] and [[Lord Chamberlain's Men]].<ref>Waith (1984: 2)</ref> The 24 January show earned three pounds eight shillings, and the performances on 29 January and 6 February earned two pounds each, making it the most profitable play of the season.<ref>Bate (1995: 70) and Hughes (2006: 13)</ref> The next recorded performance was on 1 January 1596, when a troupe of London actors, possibly Chamberlain's Men, performed the play during the Christmas festivities at [[Burley, Rutland|Burley-on-the-Hill]] in the manor of [[John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton|Sir John Harington, Baron of Exton]].<ref>Ungerer (1961: 102)</ref>

Some scholars, however, have suggested that the January 1594 performance may not be the first recorded performance of the play. On 11 April 1592, Henslowe recorded ten performances by Derby's Men of a play called ''Titus and Vespasian'', which some, such as E. K. Chambers, have identified with Shakespeare's play.<ref>Halliday (1964: 496–497)</ref> Most scholars, however, believe that ''Titus and Vespasian'' is more likely a different play about the two real life Roman Emperors, [[Vespasian]], who ruled from 69 to 79, and his son [[Titus]], who ruled from 79 to 81. The two were subjects of many narratives at the time, and a play about them would not have been unusual.<ref>Waith (1984: 8)</ref> Dover Wilson further argues that the theory that ''Titus and Vespasian'' is ''Titus Andronicus'' probably originated in an 1865 English translation of a 1620 German translation of ''Titus'', in which Lucius had been renamed Vespasian.<ref>Dover Wilson (1948: xli)</ref>

[[File:Titus - Loutherbourg.jpg|upright=0.70|left|thumb|[[Philip James de Loutherbourg]] illustration of Quintus trying to help Martius from the hole in Act 2, Scene 3; engraved by Hall (1785)]]
Although it is known that the play was definitely popular in its day, there is no other recorded performance for many years. In January 1668, it was listed by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] as one of twenty-one plays owned by the [[King's Company]] which had, at some stage previously, been acted at [[Blackfriars Theatre]]; "A Catalogue of part of his Ma<sup>tes</sup> Servants Playes as they were formally acted at the Blackfryers & now allowed of to his Ma<sup>tes</sup> Servants at y<sup>e</sup> New Theatre."<ref>Hughes (2006: 22)</ref> However, no other information is provided. During the late seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, adaptations of the play came to dominate the stage, and after the Burley performance in 1596 and the possible Blackfriars performance some time prior to 1667, there is no definite recorded performance of the Shakespearean text in England until the early twentieth century.

After over 300 years absence from the English stage, the play returned on 8 October 1923, in a production directed by [[Robert Atkins (actor)|Robert Atkins]] at [[The Old Vic]], as part of the Vic's presentation of the complete dramatic works over a seven-year period. The production featured [[Wilfred Walter]] as Titus, [[Florence Saunders]] as Tamora, [[George "Gabby" Hayes|George Hayes]] as Aaron and [[Jane Bacon]] as Lavinia. Reviews at the time praised Hayes' performance but criticised Walter's as monotonous.<ref>Dessen (1989: 12)</ref> Atkins staged the play with a strong sense of Elizabethan theatrical authenticity, with a plain black backdrop, and a minimum of props. Critically, the production met with mixed reviews, some welcoming the return of the original play to the stage, some questioning why Atkins had bothered when various adaptations were much better and still extant. Nevertheless, the play was a huge box office success, one of the most successful in the Complete Works presentation.<ref>Harcourt Williams, ''Old Vic Saga'' (London: Winchester, 1949), 51</ref>

The earliest known performance of the Shakespearean text in the United States was in April 1924 when the [[Alpha Delta Phi]] fraternity of [[Yale University]] staged the play under the direction of [[John M. Berdan]] and [[E. M. Woolley]] as part of a double bill with Robert Greene's ''[[Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay]]''.<ref>Dessen (1989: 14)</ref> While some material was removed from 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4, the rest of the play was left intact, with much attention devoted to the violence and gore. The cast list for this production has been lost.<ref>Waith (1984: 50–51)</ref>

The best known and most successful production of the play in England was directed by Peter Brook for the RSC at the [[Royal Shakespeare Theatre]] in 1955, starring [[Laurence Olivier]] as Titus, [[Maxine Audley]] as Tamora, [[Anthony Quayle]] as Aaron and [[Vivien Leigh]] as Lavinia. Brook had been offered the chance to direct ''[[Macbeth]]'' but had controversially turned it down, and instead decided to stage ''Titus''.<ref>Dessen (1989: 15)</ref> The media predicted that the production would be a massive failure, and possibly spell the end of Brook's career, but on the contrary, it was a huge commercial and critical success, with many of the reviews arguing that Brook's alterations improved Shakespeare's script (Marcus' lengthy speech upon discovering Lavinia was removed and some of the scenes in Act 4 were reorganised). Olivier in particular was singled out for his performance and for making Titus a truly sympathetic character. [[J. C. Trewin]] for example, wrote "the actor had thought himself into the hell of Titus; we forgot the inadequacy of the words in the spell of the projection."<ref>See Dessen (1989: 17–19) for a cross section of reviews concentrating on the music and Olivier.</ref> The production is also noted for muting the violence: Chiron and Demetrius were killed off stage; the heads of Quintus and Martius were never seen; the nurse is strangled, not stabbed; Titus' hand was never seen; blood and wounds were symbolised by red ribbons. Edward Trostle Jones summed up the style of the production as employing "stylised distancing effects". The scene where Lavinia first appears after the rape was singled out by critics as being especially horrific, with her wounds portrayed by red streamers hanging from her wrists and mouth. Some reviewers however, found the production too beautified, making it unrealistic, with several commenting on the cleanness of Lavinia's face after her tongue has supposedly been cut out. After its hugely successful Royal Shakespeare Theatre run, the play went on tour around Europe in 1957. No video recordings of the production are known, although there are many photographs available.<ref>J. C. Trewin, ''Shakespeare on the English Stage, 1900–1964'' (London: Barry Rocklith, 1965), 235–237. An overview of the production can also be found in Dessen (1989: 14–23)</ref>

The success of the Brook production seems to have provided an impetus for directors to tackle the play, and ever since 1955, there has been a steady stream of performances on the English and American stages. After Brook, the next major production came in 1967, when [[Douglas Seale]] directed an extremely graphic and realistic presentation at the [[Centre Stage (Baltimore)|Centre Stage]] in [[Baltimore]] with costumes that recalled the various combatants in World War II. Seale's production employed a strong sense of [[theatrical realism]] to make parallels between the contemporary period and that of ''Titus'', and thus comment on the universality of violence and revenge. Seale set the play in the 1940s and made pointed parallels with [[Internment#Concentration camp|concentration camps]], the [[Katyn massacre|massacre at Katyn]], the [[Nuremberg Rally|Nuremberg Rallies]] and the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings]]. Saturninus was based on [[Benito Mussolini]] and all his followers dressed entirely in black; Titus was modelled after a [[Prussian Army]] officer; the Andronici wore [[Nazi symbolism|Nazi insignia]] and the Goths at the end of the play were dressed in [[Allies of World War II|Allied Forces]] uniforms; the murders in the last scene are all carried out by gunfire, and at the end of the play [[swastika]]s rained down onto the stage. The play received mixed reviews with many critics wondering why Seale had chosen to associate the Andronici with [[Nazism]], arguing that it created a mixed metaphor.<ref>An overview of this production can be found in Dessen (1989: 33–35)</ref>

Later in 1967, as a direct reaction to Seale's realistic production, [[Gerald Freedman]] directed a performance for [[Joseph Papp]]'s Shakespeare Festival at the [[Delacorte Theater]] in [[Central Park]], [[Manhattan]], starring [[Jack Hollander (actor)|Jack Hollander]] as Titus, [[Olympia Dukakis]] as Tamora, [[Moses Gunn]] as Aaron and Erin Martin as Lavinia. Freedman had seen Seale's production and felt it failed because it worked by "bringing into play our sense of reality in terms of detail and literal time structure". He argued that when presented realistically, the play simply does not work, as it raises too many practical questions, such as why does Lavinia not bleed to death, why does Marcus not take her to the hospital immediately, why does Tamora not notice that the pie tastes unusual, exactly how do both Martius and Quintus manage to fall into a hole? Freedman argued that "if one wants to create a fresh emotional response to the violence, blood and multiple mutilations of ''Titus Andronicus'', one must shock the [[imagination]] and [[subconscious]] with visual images that recall the richness and depth of primitive rituals."<ref>Quoted in Dessen (1989: 24)</ref> As such, the costumes were purposely designed to represent no particular time or place but were instead based on those of the [[Byzantine Empire]] and [[History of Japan#Feudal Japan (12th–19th century)|feudal Japan]]. Additionally, the violence was stylised; instead of swords and daggers, wands were used and no contact was ever made. The colour scheme was hallucinatory, changing mid-scene. Characters wore classic masks of comedy and tragedy. The slaughter in the final scene was accomplished symbolically by having each character wrapped in a red robe as they died. A narrator (<!--not "played by", a narrator isn't a character-->[[Charles Dance]]) was also used, who, prior to each act, would announce what was going to happen in the upcoming act, thus undercutting any sense of realism. The production received generally positive reviews, with Mildred Kuner arguing "[[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]] rather than gory realism was what made this production so stunning."<ref>''New York Times'', 10 August 1967</ref><ref>An overview of the production can be found in Dessen (1989: 24–29).</ref>

In 1972, [[Trevor Nunn]] directed an RSC production at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, as part of a presentation of the four Roman plays, starring [[Colin Blakely]] as Titus, [[Margaret Tyzack]] as Tamora, [[Calvin Lockhart]] as Aaron and [[Janet Suzman]] as Lavinia. Colin Blakely and [[John Wood (English actor)|John Wood]] as a vicious and maniacal Saturninus received particularly positive reviews. This production took the realistic approach and did not shirk from the more specific aspects of the violence; for example, Lavinia has trouble walking after the rape, which, it is implied, was anal rape. Nunn believed the play asked profound questions about the sustainability of Elizabethan society, and as such, he linked the play to the contemporary period to ask the same questions of late twentieth-century England; he was "less concerned with the condition of ancient Rome than with the morality of contemporary life".<ref>Massai (2001: lxxx)</ref> In his program notes, Nunn wrote "Shakespeare's Elizabethan nightmare has become ours." He was especially interested in the theory that [[decadence]] had led to the collapse of Rome. At the end of 4.2, for example, there was an on-stage orgy, and throughout the play, supporting actors appeared in the backgrounds dancing, eating, drinking and behaving outrageously. Also in this vein, the play opened with a group of people paying homage to a waxwork of an obese emperor reclining on a couch and clutching a bunch of grapes.<ref>An overview of the production can be found in Dessen (1989: 35–40).</ref>

The play was performed for the first time at the [[Stratford Shakespeare Festival]] in Ontario, Canada in 1978, when it was directed by [[Brian Bedford]], starring [[William Hutt (actor)|William Hutt]] as Titus, [[Jennifer Phipps]] as Tamora, [[Alan Scarfe]] as Aaron and Domini Blithe as Lavinia. Bedford went with neither stylisation nor realism; instead the violence simply tended to happen off-stage, but everything else was realistically presented. The play received mixed reviews with some praising its restraint and others arguing that the suppression of the violence went too far. Many cited the final scene, where despite three onstage stabbings, not one drop of blood was visible, and the reveal of Lavinia, where she was totally bloodless despite her mutilation. This production cut Lucius' final speech and instead ended with Aaron alone on the stage as [[Cumaean Sibyl|Sibyl]] predicts the fall of Rome in lines written by Bedford himself.<ref>A cross section of reviews of this production can be found in Dessen (1989: 48–50).</ref> As such, "for affirmation and healing under Lucius the production substituted a sceptical modern theme of evil triumphant and Rome's decadence."<ref>Hughes (2006: 42)</ref>

A celebrated, and unedited production, (according to Jonathan Bate, not a single line from Q1 was cut) was directed by Deborah Warner in 1987 at The Swan and remounted at [[Barbican Centre|Barbican's Pit]] in 1988 for the RSC, starring [[Brian Cox (actor)|Brian Cox]] as Titus, [[Estelle Kohler]] as Tamora, [[Peter Polycarpou]] as Aaron and [[Sonia Ritter]] as Lavinia. Met with almost universally positive reviews, Jonathan Bate regards it as the finest production of any Shakespearean play of the entire 1980s.<ref>Bate (1996: 1)</ref> Using a small cast, Warner had her actors address the audience from time to time throughout the play and often had actors leave the stage and wander out into the auditorium. Opting for a realist presentation, the play had a warning posted in the pit "This play contains scenes which some people may find disturbing", and numerous critics noted how, after the interval at many shows, empty seats had appeared in the audience.<ref>An extensive overview of this production can be found in Dessen (1989: 57–70)</ref> Warner's production was considered so successful, both critically and commercially, that the RSC did not stage the play again until 2003.<ref>Hughes (2006: 47n1)</ref>

In 1988, [[Mark Rucker]] directed a realistic production at [[Shakespeare Santa Cruz]], starring [[J. Kenneth Campbell]] as Titus, Molly Maycock as Tamora, Elizabeth Atkeson as Lavinia, and an especially well-received performance by [[Bruce A. Young]] as Aaron. Campbell presented Titus in a much more sympathetic light than usual; for example, he kills Mutius by accident, pushing him so that he falls against a tree, and his refusal to allow Mutius to be buried was performed as if in a dream state. Prior to the production, Rucker had Young work out and get in shape so that by the time of the performance, he weighed 240&nbsp;lbs. Standing at six-foot four, his Aaron was purposely designed to be the most physically imposing character on the stage. Additionally, he was often positioned as standing on hills and tables, with the rest of the cast below him. When he appears with the Goths, he is not their prisoner, but willingly enters their camp in pursuit of his baby, the implication being that without this one weakness, he would have been invincible.<ref>An overview of the production can be found in Dessen (1989: 40–44).</ref>

In 1994, Julie Taymor directed the play at the [[Theater for the New City]]. The production featured a prologue and epilogue set in the modern era, foregrounded the character of Young Lucius, who acts as a kind of choric observer of events, and starred [[Robert Stattel]] as Titus, [[Melinda Mullins]] as Tamora, [[Harry Lennix]] as Aaron and Miriam Healy-Louie as Lavinia. Heavily inspired in her design by [[Joel-Peter Witkin]], Taymor used stone columns to represent the people of Rome, who she saw as silent and incapable of expressing any individuality or subjectivity.<ref>Stephen Pizzello, "From Stage to Screen", ''American Cinematographer'', 81:2 (February 2000); available on R1 Special Edition DVD of ''Titus''; 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2000</ref> Controversially, the play ended with the implication that Lucius had killed Aaron's baby, despite his vow not to.

In 1995, [[Gregory Doran]] directed a production at the [[Royal National Theatre]], which also played at the [[Market Theatre (Johannesburg)|Market Theatre]] in [[Johannesburg]], South Africa, starring [[Antony Sher]] as Titus, Dorothy Ann Gould as Tamora, Sello Maake as Aaron and Jennifer Woodbine as Lavinia. Although Doran explicitly denied any political overtones, the play was set in a modern African context and made explicit parallels to [[Politics of South Africa|South African politics]]. In his production notes, which Doran co-wrote with Sher, he stated, "Surely, to be relevant, theatre must have an umbilical connection to the lives of the people watching it." One particularly controversial decision was to have the play spoken in indigenous accents rather than [[Received Pronunciation]], which allegedly resulted in many white South Africans refusing to see the play. Writing in ''Plays International'' in August 1995, Robert Lloyd Parry argued "the questions raised by ''Titus'' went far beyond the play itself [to] many of the tensions that exist in the new South Africa; the gulf of mistrust that still exists between blacks and whites ... ''Titus Andronicus'' has proved itself to be political theatre in the truest sense."<ref>All information on Doran’s production taken from Hughes (2006: 49).</ref>

For the first time since 1987, the RSC staged the play in 2003, under the direction of [[Bill Alexander (director)|Bill Alexander]] and starring [[David Bradley (English actor)|David Bradley]] as Titus, [[Maureen Beattie]] as Tamora, [[Joe Dixon (actor)|Joe Dixon]] as Aron<!--Not a typo--> and [[Eve Myles]] as Lavinia. Convinced that Act 1 was by George Peele, Alexander felt he was not undermining the integrity of Shakespeare by drastically altering it; for example, Saturninus and Tamora are present throughout, they never leave the stage; there is no division between the upper and lower levels; all mention of Mutius is absent; and over 100 lines were removed.<ref>An overview of this production can be found in Hughes (2006: 51–53)</ref>

[[File:Laura Rees as Lavinia.jpg|right|thumb|Laura Rees as Lavinia in Lucy Bailey's 2006 production at Shakespeare's Globe; note the 'realistic' effects and blood]]
In 2006, two major productions were staged within a few weeks of one another. The first opened on 29 May at [[Shakespeare's Globe]], directed by [[Lucy Bailey]] and starring [[Douglas Hodge]] as Titus, Geraldine Alexander as Tamora, [[Shaun Parkes]] as Aaron and [[Laura Rees]] as Lavinia. Bailey focused on a realistic presentation throughout the production; for example, after her mutilation, Lavinia is covered from head to toe in blood, with her stumps crudely bandaged, and raw flesh visible beneath. So graphic was Bailey's use of realism that at several productions, audience members fainted upon Lavinia's appearance.<ref name="Death">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3653023/Death-mutilation-and-not-a-drop-of-blood.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3653023/Death-mutilation-and-not-a-drop-of-blood.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|author=Benjamin Secher|title=Death, mutilation – and not a drop of blood|newspaper= [[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=10 June 2006|access-date=26 October 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The production was also controversial insofar as the Globe had a roof installed for the first time in its history. The decision was taken by designer [[William Dudley (designer)|William Dudley]], who took as his inspiration a feature of the [[Colosseum]] known as a [[velarium]] – a cooling system which consisted of a canvas-covered, net-like structure made of ropes, with a hole in the centre. Dudley made it as a [[Polyvinyl chloride|PVC]] awning which was intended to darken the auditorium.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bufvc.ac.uk/shakespeare/index.php/title/AV66495 |title=''Titus Andronicus'' (2006)|publisher=[[British Universities Film & Video Council]] |access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/titusglobe-rev.htm |title=''Titus Andronicus'' Review |author=Philip Fisher |year=2006|publisher=British Theatre Guide |access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Lavinia - Ninagawa production.jpg|left|thumb|Hitomi Manaka as Lavinia in Yukio Ninagawa's 2006 production at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre; note the use of red ribbons as a stylised substitute for blood]]
The second 2006 production opened at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre on 9 June as part of the ''[[Complete Works (RSC festival)|Complete Works Festival]]''. Directed by [[Yukio Ninagawa]], it starred Kotaro Yoshida as Titus, Rei Asami as Tamora, [[Shun Oguri]] as Aaron and Hitomi Manaka as Lavinia. Performed in Japanese, the original English text was projected as [[surtitles]] onto the back of the stage. In stark contrast to Bailey's production, theatricality was emphasised; the play begins with the company still rehearsing and getting into costume and the stage hands still putting the sets together. The production followed the 1955 Brook production in its depiction of violence; actress Hitomi Manaka appeared after the rape scene with stylised red ribbons coming from her mouth and arms, substituting for blood. Throughout the play, at the back of the stage, a huge marble wolf can be seen from which feed [[Romulus and Remus]], with the implication being that Rome is a society based on animalistic origins. The play ends with Young Lucius holding Aaron's baby out to the audience and crying out "[[Heart of Darkness|The horror! The horror!]]"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3653392/Tongueless-in-Stratford.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3653392/Tongueless-in-Stratford.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Tongueless in Stratford|author= Rebecca Tyrrel |date=18 June 2006 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date=21 November 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/08/theater/08bran.html |title=Shakespeare in War, More Timely Than Ever|author= Ben Brantley |date=8 July 2006 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/ninagawatitus-rev |title=''Titus Andronicus'' Review |author=Pete Wood|year=2006|publisher=British Theatre Guide |access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref>

Several reviews of the time made much of the manner in which each production approached the appearance of Lavinia after the rape: "At Shakespeare's Globe, the groundlings are fainting at the mutilations in Lucy Bailey's coarse but convincing production. To Stratford-upon-Avon, Yukio Ninagawa brings a Japanese staging so stylised that it keeps turning the horror into visual poetry."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/03a82fc4-0209-11db-a141-0000779e2340.html#axzz2isiHISRK |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/tBC2I |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|first=Alastair |last=Macaulay|title=Titus Andronicus, Stratford-upon-Avon|newspaper= [[Financial Times]]|date= 22 June 2006|access-date=26 October 2013}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Speaking of Bailey's production, Eleanor Collins of {{lang|fr|[[Cahiers Élisabéthains]]}}, said of the scene, "audience members turned their heads away in real distress".<ref>Eleanor Collins, "''Titus Andronicus'', directed by Lucy Bailey, The Globe, London, 31 May & 11 July 2006", {{lang|fr|[[Cahiers Élisabéthains]]}}, 70:2 (Autumn, 2006), 49–51</ref> Charles Spencer of ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' called Lavinia "almost too ghastly to behold".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3652794/The-horror-endures.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3652794/The-horror-endures.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|first=Charles |last=Spencer|title=The horror endures|newspaper= [[The Daily Telegraph]]|date= 1 June 2006|access-date=26 October 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Michael Billington of ''[[The Guardian]]'' said her slow shuffle onto the stage "chills the blood".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/jun/01/theatre2|title=Titus Andronicus: Shakespeare's Globe, London|author=Michael Billington|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=1 June 2006|access-date=26 October 2013}}</ref> Sam Marlowe of ''[[The Times]]'' saw Bailey's use of realism as extremely important for the moral of the production as a whole: "violated, her hands and her tongue cruelly cut away, she stumbles into view drenched in blood, flesh dangling from her hacked wrists, moaning and keening, almost animalistic. It's the production's most powerful symbolic image, redolent of the dehumanising effects of war."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article670088.ece|title=Review of ''Titus Andronicus''|author=Sam Marlowe|newspaper=[[The Times]]|date=1 June 2006|access-date=26 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070408235030/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article670088.ece |archive-date=8 April 2007}}</ref> Of Ninagawa's production, some critics felt the use of stylisation damaged the impact of the scene. [[Benedict Nightingale]] of ''The Times'', for example, asked "is it enough to suggest bloodletting by having red ribbons flow from wrists and throats?"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/europe-travel/italy/rome/titus-andronicus-36g8k6pbvfk|author=[[Benedict Nightingale]]|title=Review of Yukio Ninagawa's ''Titus Andronicus''|newspaper= [[The Times]]|date=22 June 2006|access-date=26 October 2013|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Similarly, ''The Guardian''{{'}}s Michael Billington, who had praised Bailey's use of realistic effects, wrote "At times I felt that Ninagawa, through stylised images and [[George Frideric Handel|Handelian]] music, unduly aestheticised violence."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/jun/22/theatre.rsc|title=Titus Andronicus: Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon|first=Michael |last=Billington|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=22 June 2006|access-date=26 October 2013}}</ref> Some critics, however, felt the stylisation was more powerful than Bailey's realism; Neil Allan and Scott Revers of {{lang|fr|Cahiers Élisabéthains}}, for example, wrote "Blood itself was denoted by spools of red thread spilling from garments, limbs and Lavinia's mouth. Cruelty was stylised; the visceral became the aesthetic."<ref>Neil Allan and Scott Revers, "''Titus Andronicus'', directed by Yukio Ninagawa for The Ninagawa Company, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, 21 June 2006", {{lang|fr|[[Cahiers Élisabéthains]]}}, Special Issue: The Royal Shakespeare Company Complete Works (2007), 39–41</ref> Similarly, Paul Taylor, writing for ''[[The Independent]]'', wrote "Gore is represented by swatches of red cords that tumble and trail from wounded wrists and mouths. You might think that this method had a cushioning effect. In fact it concentrates and heightens the horror."<ref>Paul Taylor, "Review of Yukio Ninagawa's ''Titus Andronicus''", ''[[The Independent]]'' (22 June 2006)</ref> Ninagawa himself said "The violence is all there. I am just trying to express these things in a different way from any previous production."<ref name="Death" /> In her 2013 essay, "Mythological Reconfigurations on the Contemporary Stage: Giving a New Voice to Philomela in ''Titus Andronicus''", which directly compares the depictions of the two Lavinias, Agnès Lafont writes of Ninagawa's production that Lavinia's appearance functions as a "visual emblem": "Bloodshed and beauty create a stark dissonance ... Distancing itself from the violence it stages thanks to 'dissonance', the production presents Lavinia onstage as if she were a painting ... Ninagawa's work distances itself from cruelty, as the spectacle of suffering is stylised. Ribbons that represent blood ... are symbolic means of filtering the aching spectacle of an abused daughter, and yet the spectacle retains its shocking potential and its power of empathy all the while intellectualizing it."<ref>Agnès Lafont, "Mythological reconfigurations on the contemporary stage: Giving a New Voice to Philomela in ''Titus Andronicus''", ''Early Modern Literary Studies'', Special Issue 21 (2013)</ref>

In 2007, [[Gale Edwards]] directed a production for the [[Shakespeare Theatre Company]] at the [[Harman Center for the Arts]], starring [[Sam Tsoutsouvas]] as Titus, [[Valerie Leonard]] as Tamora, Colleen Delany as Lavinia, and [[Peter Macon]] as Aaron.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Theater/sip/production/stage/1777/ |title=''Titus Andronicus'' (2007 – Shakespeare Theatre Company) |publisher=Shakespeare Internet Editions|access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref> Set in an unspecific modern milieu, props were kept to a minimum, with lighting and general staging kept simple, as Edwards wanted the audience to concentrate on the story, not the staging. The production received generally very favourable reviews.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metroweekly.com/arts_entertainment/stage.php?ak=2638 |title=Serving up Evil |first=Kate |last=Wingfield |date=12 April 2007 |work=[[Metro Weekly]] |access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref>

In 2011, [[Michael Sexton (director)|Michael Sexton]] directed a modern military dress production at [[The Public Theater]] on a minimalistic set made of plywood boards. The production had a low budget and much of it was spent on huge volumes of blood that literally drenched the actors in the final scene, as Sexton said he was determined to outdo his contemporaries in terms of the amount of on-stage blood in the play. The production starred [[Jay O. Sanders]] (who was nominated for a [[Lucille Lortel Awards|Lucille Lortel]]) as Titus, Stephanie Roth Haberle as Tamora, Ron Cephas Jones as Aaron and Jennifer Ikeda as Lavinia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-12-01/news/30464756_1_titus-andronicus-shakespeare-society-mutilations |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029034437/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-12-01/news/30464756_1_titus-andronicus-shakespeare-society-mutilations |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 October 2012 |title=''Titus Andronicus'' has more than gore at the Public|first=Joe |last=Dziemianowicz|date=1 December 2011 |work=[[New York Daily News]]|access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref>

In 2013, [[Michael Fentiman]] directed the play for the Royal Shakespeare Company, with [[Stephen Boxer]] as Titus, Katy Stephens as Tamora, Kevin Harvey as Aaron, and [[Rose Reynolds]] as Lavinia. Emphasising the gore and violence, the production carried a trailer with warnings of "graphic imagery and scenes of butchery". It played at The Swan until October 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/rscs-titus-andronicus-carries-heavy-warning-as-production-ups-the-bloodsquirting-gore-tarantinostyle-8609415.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/rscs-titus-andronicus-carries-heavy-warning-as-production-ups-the-bloodsquirting-gore-tarantinostyle-8609415.html |archive-date=21 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=RSC's ''Titus Andronicus'' carries heavy warning as production ups the blood-squirting gore Tarantino-style |author=Alice Jones |date=9 May 2013 |work=[[The Independent]] |access-date=8 June 2013}}</ref> Also in 2013, the [[Hudson Shakespeare Company]] staged a production directed by Jon Ciccarelli as part of a special Halloween festival for the [[Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery|Historic Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery]]. The production contrasted a military and modern Goth culture, but quickly disintegrated into an anarchic state, stressing the black comedy of the play.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fear Blood Soaked Titus|url=http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2013/10/fear_shakespeares_blood-soaked.html|newspaper=The Jersey Journal|date=18 October 2013|access-date=18 August 2014}}</ref>

Outside Britain and the United States, other significant productions include [[Qiping Xu]]'s 1986 production in China, which drew political parallels to [[Mao Zedong]]'s [[Cultural Revolution]] and the [[Red Guards (China)|Red Guards]]; [[Peter Stein (director)|Peter Stein]]'s 1989 production in Italy which evoked images of twentieth century [[Fascism]]; [[Daniel Mesguich]]'s 1989 production in Paris, which set the entire play in a crumbling library, acting as a symbol for Roman civilisation; [[Nenni Delmestre]]'s 1992 production in [[Zagreb]] which acted as a metaphor for the [[Croatian War of Independence|struggles of the Croatian people]]; and [[Silviu Purcărete]]'s 1992 Romanian production, which explicitly avoided using the play as a metaphor for the fall of [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]] (this production is one of the most successful plays ever staged in Romania, and it was revived every year up to 1997).<ref>All information taken from Hughes (2006: 47–50). For more information on the Stein and Mesguich productions see Dominique Goy-Blanquet's "Titus resartus" in ''Foreign Shakespeare: Contemporary Performance'', edited by Dennis Kennedy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 36–76.</ref>