Titus Andronicus
20 minutes to create a 20 minute wordless version of Titus Andronicus. Figure out the cast. There are no major rules about playing the same character, characters have to be represented. A general shape and an emotional arc. A lofty assignment, a big one, but only thing we’re doing. Major piece of advice – talk less than you do. Try to keep it as quiet as possible and work towards finding interactions. Try to do more than say. Don’t be as concerned with the product length – more than six minutes and less than 45. I don’t want this to be, this is not an assignment based on how long the product clocks in. Take the time to tell the story that you as a group feel is the center of this piece. [They look terrified.] Create the story of the show without words. No words in the scene. No director. Do it as a group. Communicate through movement. Don’t have to hit every plot point. There are sounds.
Do we want to cast it? Should we just move? No characters. Double cast? Working through the chronology. Killing the sons.
They work through the chronology first. Killing, refuses crown, promises Lavinia to Saturninus, hell no, brothers, Titus kills them (Titus kills a lot of people), Tamora lies and makes peace, Aaron, boys talk about raping Lavinia, hunt outside, Tamora and Aaron have something, Aaron and gold, (using the tree is decided…), sons come in, etc. fall into a pit, and on and on. [This seems very…theatrical and less instinctive. I am tempted to give them a direction to stop figuring out the plot and start finding it with their bodies, but that does not seem like wisdom.] So many characters in this play…how can we hope to tell all of their stories? And do we need to? [Not doing the clown…interesting.] They seem to be forgetting that it is the emotional arc and story at center.
Abstract? Physical? [This is really specific. There is a lot of thinking. This is less in their bodies.] Separate spaces – because it really is the story of two families, kind of. Tug of war of Lavinia. Eschewing chronology. [I think this is going to be hard for them, I am intrigued by what it will look like. There is not a lot of Titus action. Which is really interesting. They seem much more interested in the other ideas and activities of the story. This representation of the rape is sort of devastating, actually.] Joel gives them ten. Every time someone dies, screaming. Read each other when to stop – recognizing the community. Funny jokes about rock paper scissors…bizarre.
[Bring Lavinia back in. Interesting.] Circle for the whole time. [I like this idea of a pile of dead bodies – if the violence and the consequences are what is important, this could be something to take out for performance. Is it because of a lust for power? Why does Titus kill Tamora’s son? Is that what begins it? What is the beginning of this story…I think that is what’s missing in the emotional arc of this story.] This is so Kris Salata right now (quote – hahahahaha. I love it). Banquet time! Eat the dead bodies. Stand on top of us. Pull the crown out of the center of the pile of bodies. Running it until Joel returns.
[Interesting. This is kind of interesting. I am intrigued.]
RUN.
Still too much talking. But now in the run the vocalization is good. I am not entiorely sure the story is that clear. But the beginning is cool. And you can definitely tell when people are dead. This rape was short and kind of tragic. The pile of deadbodies is starting. We are lost in the story now, maybe? I love the Tamora drama. The revenging is unclear. The yelling is good, though. I wish they would keep the yelling up. More and more and more of it. The last little vignette is super cool, too. The pile of bodies and one person with the crown. A couple of really nice moments, I think.
What conscious decisions were made – just chronology. Complicated plot. Circle, tribal quality interest Joel – I like that. Carnage at center. Lavinia is the emotional arc. Interesting. What are your first instincts? It moves so quickly. A list of horrible things. Just proved how animalistic and barbaric it can be. Really responding to circles. Cannibals. Ripping at each other. A continual hunt. Feel like a vulture. Pieces of whatever we can find. Sharks circling prey. Every scene deserves a blood-curdling scream. Notes. Tribal rites, rite of passage, moves from ceremonial sacrifice. Reading of the Titus Body Count. Trying to find the words for each one – sacrifice, kill, murder, what are the different kinds of death? Order devolving into chaos. Titus kills a lot of people. Like a third of them. Does the audience sympathize with Titus? DO we sympathize with Titus? I totally sympathize with Tamora. Tamora? Mother’s instinct. Interesting. Gives fair warning. Honesty. People are always telling the truth.
Is Tamora justified? She takes such relish in it. Rape scene – woman appealing to a woman. When is Titus ever the victim? Because of what
What parts stuck out to Joel: the opening with the circle and the fight, rock paper scissors, eating out of the corpse pile, rhythm – banging and yelling, everyone was always moving and involved, reacting, chaos at the beginning – interesting that we are at war, come back into war, and continually keeps exploding. What are the moments of pause?
Ross winds up being both Tamora and Titus’s sons – a son is still a son. Interesting. Some people were multiple – some stayed. Lavinia, Titus, Tamora,
Will return to the activity multiple times. Create a sacrifice, etc. Seeing the story to find balance.
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