FEAST ON THIS:
BLOOD, REVENGE, AND
A SHOCKINGLY GOOD TIME

A ferocious, darkly funny take that makes
Shakespeare’s grisliest play thrillingly alive

(Back) Anthony Michael Martinez, Zack Lopez Roa, Howard W. Overshown, Blair Baker, (front)
Enid Graham, Anthony Michael Lopez, Matthew Amendt, Patrick Page, and Francesca Faridany

The new Titus Andronicus from Red Bull Theater makes Shakespeare’s bloodiest tragedy thrillingly energetic—and hilariously grotesque. The story, written between 1588 and 1593, is pure fantasy dripping with drama: general Titus Andronicus returns to Rome crowned with victory over the Goths, yet manages, with striking efficiency, to undo himself through three catastrophically poor decisions. The first is to pick a foolish man for emperor while, bound in chains, the Goth queen and her men quietly plot revenge.

Anthony Michael Lopez, Anthony Michael Martinez, Patrick Page, Zack Lopez Roa

Under Jesse Berger’s direction, the Bard’s verse finds its full force as the stage erupts in intentionally brutal, chaotic action. At the center of the storm is Patrick Page, who has been channeling Shakespeare since he was a baby. His Titus begins as all command and calculation, a military man forged in order and authority, but the cracks spread, the voice darkens, the control crumbles, until he becomes a shrilling chant of a man who lost his mind, devoured by grief and vengeance. Page maps Titus’s arc with chilling clarity, locked into a brutal emotional logic that makes every line land harder.

Jesse Aaronson, Amy Jo Jackson, Adam Langdon, McKinley Belcher III, Francesca Faridany

A fierce Francesca Faridany is Queen Tamora, Titus’s archenemy. She enters Rome in chains, humiliated and already mentally drafting her revenge plan in bullet points. But things turn darker still: though she begs for mercy, Titus kills her son Alarbus (Blair Baker) right before her eyes to avenge his own sons who died during the war. Within what feels like five minutes, Tamora climbs the social ladder, marries the idiotic emperor Saturninus (Matthew Amendt, nicely comic), and runs Rome like her personal revenge playground.

Howard W. Overshown, McKinley Belcher III, Amy Jo Jackson, Anthony Michael Lopez

Her other two sons are chaos agents. Chiron (Jesse Aaronson) and Demetrius (Adam Langdon) are broken little boys driven by ego, stupidity, and a constant need to prove themselves. They bicker, posture, and compete, but when it comes to cruelty, they are disturbingly united like a couple of serial killers. What makes Aaronson and Langdon’s performances very funny and particularly unsettling is their childish swagger, however casually they embrace brutality.

Completing Tamora’s circle is Aaron (McKinley Belcher III), the hunky Moor, her advisor and secret lover. If others stumble into violence through grief or idiocy, Aaron strides into it with a sharp eye for opportunity, orchestrating much of the destruction that engulfs the play behind the scene. Belcher’s Aaron is witty and dangerous, but everything changes when Aaron becomes a father, and Belcher adds the right, unexpected, emotional dimension.

McKinley Belcher III, Francesca Faridany

Titus also keeps a tight-knit little circle: his younger sister Marcia (Enid Graham, gender swapping in the role of Marcus); his sons, sweet Mutius (Anthony Michael Martinez); Quintus (Zack Lopez Roa); and dutiful Lucius (Anthony Michael Lopez); and daughter Lavinia (Olivia Reis) who becomes the true sacrificial lamb.

Graceful and obedient, Lavinia has pledged her love to Bassianus (Howard W. Overshown, who radiates honor, love, and rightful order), but the crown has passed to his brother Saturninus, who now lays claim to her as well. Titus is so bound by authority and obedience that he’ll sacrifice his own children to maintain it, so he forces his daughter to please the Emperor–strike number two–and he even kills his son Mutius when he tries to stop him–strike number three. And that’s only the beginning. From now on, Titus’s house is ravaged and Rome becomes a stage for relentless, poetic horror.

Patrick Page, Blair Baker, Anthony Michael Martinez, Zack Lopez Roa, Amy Jo Jackson

The Emperor Saturninus falls for more sensual Tamora who pulls his strings like a puppet, while innocent Lavinia becomes the target of Demetrius and Chiron’s sick games. Her rape and mutilation transform her from a delightful human being into the living embodiment of atrocious suffering, and Reis’s body and face successfully tell the story that words no longer can. The tale grows ever more delightfully unhinged, even demanding a Nurse (a most capable Amy Jo Jackson), who arrives to assist with a rather unpredicted birth; she is one of those characters who wanders in briefly and immediately regrets it.

Adam Langdon, Amy Jo Jackson, Jesse Aaronson

Visually, the production keeps it lean; the stage is dominated by a series of massive, cylindrical grey columns that stretch vertically out of sight, creating a forced perspective that feels cavernous, like an ancient temple. Beowulf Boritt’s set steers away from excess, shaping a stage that’s stripped down but evocative–Rome as an idea. His minimalism meets calculated anachronism in Emily Rebholz’s tactical-casual costumes, an aesthetic that suggests a modern-day militia or a group of survivors.

Patrick Page, Zack Lopez Roa, Anthony Michael Martinez, Howard W. Overshown, Enid Graham

Lighting by Jiyoun Chang leans into a stony teal-and-grey palette, the monochromatic environment making the deep blood-red spurts all the more shocking, becoming visual focal points that scream against the grey. Music by Adam Wernick and sound by Shannon Slaton heighten the tension.

This Titus Andronicus is so vivid it will convert skeptics: It’s memorable for seasoned theatergoers and will be a revelation for anyone who usually steers clear of Shakespeare.

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photos by Carol Rosegg

Titus Andronicus
Red Bull Theater
The Pershing Square Signature Center, Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre
480 West 42nd St, New York, NY
Tue–Fri at 7; Sat at 2 & 7; Sun at 2 (Open Caption: April 12 at 2)
120 minutes with intermission
ends on April 19, 2026
for tickets, call 202.488.3300 or visit Ovation Tix or Red Bull

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