Titus Andronicus

Code and ritual. Love and loss. Triumph and despair. Justice and revenge. And blood and death. Lots of it. As Shakespeare?s most brutal revenge tragedy, ?Titus Andronicus? is not for the faint of heart.

Nevertheless, director Matthew Brumlow, an Master of Fine Arts in directing candidate at the University of Idaho in the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences, finds the play more relevant than ever.

?Titus has much to say to a world becoming desensitized to violence and accustomed to fundamentalism, isolationism and lust for power,? Brumlow said. ?Anyone who says this play is unrealistically grotesque hasn?t been paying attention to recent world events, particularly the atrocities in Syria.?

The play goes to some very dark places, and Brumlow, who adapted the script, has been careful not to gloss over the gore. The challenge is how to portray the violence, including human sacrifice, mutilation, and rape, without sensationalizing it.

?I believe Shakespeare was exploring the limits of our tolerance,? Brumlow said. ?What sets ?Titus? apart from other revenge tragedies of the day, as always with Shakespeare, is his exploration of the human condition and the cost of our actions.?

Shouldering the title role is Dan Poppen, an MFA performance candidate from Sioux City, Iowa. He has appeared in the Department of Theatre Arts? ?Cymbeline,? ?As You Like It? and the 2015 production of ?A Christmas Carol,? where he played the master of ceremonies, with violin in hand. Poppen sees shades of Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear wound into the rigid and relentless Titus.

 ?This is a pretty major leap for me,? said Poppen, who typically inhabits expressive, vulnerable characters. ?Titus is so different. The way he adapts is through revenge.?

That?s the interesting part of being an actor and an artist, Poppen said. ?You get to explore how far away do you want to move ? this is the role that is the farthest from me. I?m learning to see the beauty in structure, code and honor.?

?We are all in this play,? Brumlow said. ?It puts up a rather blunt mirror. If we are really honest, haven?t we all wanted revenge ? to see someone get their comeuppance? But what happens to us if we pursue that? What happens when our fear turns to vengeance??

The cast are all students from the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences. Guest artist Catherine Zublin, on sabbatical from Weber State University, designed costumes for the production.

?Titus Andronicus? contains scenes of violence, adult language and adult situations and is not recommended for children.