BLOOD AND SHAKESPEARE.

BLOOD AND SHAKESPEARE. JULIUS CAESAR needs a strong assassination scene. I think that TITUS ANDRONICUS is a play where there can be too much blood. Molly commented here that she saw a production of TITUS ANDRONICUS in which “there was an elaborate apparatus for Lavinia’s costume which allowed her to spew blood from her stumps and mouth during every scene.” TITUS ANDRONICUS is notorious for its gory scenes, which was the reason that I asked my friend how bloody the movie TITUS was before I watched it. There is a Terence McNally play in which a crazed director boasts about his staging of TITUS, boasting about the blood bags he had used. When I finally saw TITUS, I was surprised to realize what a good play TITUS ANDRONICUS is, with vivid scenes and with many of Shakespeare’s future themes foreshadowed. I think that TITUS ANDRONICUS is a play where the violence and cruelty has diverted the attention of critics and audiences from the play’s merits for centuries.