The Emperor's New Clothes: Review of Titus Andronicus (directed by Yukio Ninagawa) at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, June 2006

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. Interestingly, it is not just Alarbus's head that returns to the stage separated from the rest of his body, but also his hand—prefiguring as an act of revenge the loss of Titus's and Lavinia's hands that are to come. 2. Ninagawa states that he wishes to create an immediate and contemporary feel to his production. Interviewed for the Japan Society, he claims that his Titus reflects “today's turbulent world, a world beset with endless war in one place or another.” Before seeing the play, the Japan Society's theatre critic asked Ninagawa if he did not find it an incredible challenge to stage such a bloody and horrific work in which it is hard to feel any empathy for the characters. Ninagawa replied, “Isn't the world like that today?” (Curtin Curtin , Sean . Rev. of Titus Andronicus , dir. Yukio Ninagawa . The Japan Society . 8 Nov. 2006 < http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews/06titus.html >. [Google Scholar]). 3. Given his grand designs, it is perhaps no coincidence that producer Thelma Holt refers to the director as “Big Nina” (see Curtin Curtin , Sean . Rev. of Titus Andronicus , dir. Yukio Ninagawa . The Japan Society . 8 Nov. 2006 < http://www.japansociety.org.uk/reviews/06titus.html >. [Google Scholar]). 4. As I discuss below, Ninagawa is not the only director to make use of Renaissance stage architecture to make symbolic points about the play. Peter Brook's RSC production of 1955 used a back wall with gallery to do just that. 5. “Ninagawa's emblematic approach is symbolized by a vast statue of the she-wolf that suckled Rome's founders. And Ninagawa, echoing the fact that Remus was the victim of fraternal slaughter, emphasises the fatal consequences of Rome's animalistic origins” (Billington Billington , Michael . “Titus Andronicus.” Guardian 22 June 2006 < http://arts.guardian.co.uk/shakespeareyear/stort/0,,1803438,00.html >. [Google Scholar]). 6. Sometimes the eclecticism fails, as with the case of the Gothic army led by Lucius, whose black robes, silver-blue armour and dreadlocks make them look more like dodgy Dr Who extras than a threatening army. 7. The production's dead bodies, props and several of its costumes are to be seen up close in the RST's foyer (which the company use as a huge running room) before, during and after the performance. 8. The effect is wonderful, although the whiteness of the set and the modernity of Nakagoshi's evocation of the forest do cause me to be reminded very powerfully of Peter Brook's 1970 Midsummer Night's Dream. The similarity is also apparent to Kate Bassett Bassett , Kate . “Titus Andronicus RST, Stratford.” Independent 25 June 2006 < http://arts.independent.co.uk/theatre/reviews/article1096308.ece >. [Google Scholar], the reviewer for the Independent (see Bassett Bassett , Kate . “Titus Andronicus RST, Stratford.” Independent 25 June 2006 < http://arts.independent.co.uk/theatre/reviews/article1096308.ece >. [Google Scholar]). 9. The most obvious of these being Peter Brook's 1955 RSC production and Julie Taymor's 1999 film staging. Elements of the production's scenography were also reminiscent of Brook's set for the 1970 RSC Midsummer Night's Dream (see note 8). Titus's chef's hat and much of the banquet scene also evoke the visual style of Warner and Taymor's productions. 10. Aaron is not only the progenitor of machiavels such as Richard III, Edmund and Don John, he is also a figure upon whose black shadow is cast over Shakespeare's great articulations of noble Otherness: Othello and Shylock. 11. Ninagawa uses non-diegetic sound poorly at several moments of the production. Another such gaffe comes as Aaron's baby is presented for the first time. Here, not only is a plastic baby that seems far blacker than either Oguri or Asami used, Ninagawa inexplicably pipes recorded infant noises over the RST tannoy system. Awful. 12. How nice that the inventor of dramatic irony, Sophocles, should also have written the most famous tragedy concerning Tereus, whose myth is one of the most powerful sources for Shakespeare's Titus—especially the banquet scene. 13. The self-indulgence of Ninagawa's principals is at times as difficult to stomach as a generous helping of son pie. One such series of moments comes in Rei Asami's curtain call, in which the actor collapses in a prolonged series of extravagant curtsies. 14. It is hard to miss the way in which this production sells its high-flying, big-time, international credentials. The programme makes reference to numerous producers and sponsors, including: Horipro Inc.; Saitama Arts Foundation; the Arts Council of Great Britain; the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan; Thelma Holt Ltd; the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation; the RSC Sir Fordham Flower Fund and even the company's Official Airline, ANA.