Reviewed by Amanda L. Andrei
Chaotique Company
Through September 16
Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus is a gross show. Roman imperialism, foreign invaders, and revenge that spills from the battlefield into governance serves at a backdrop for the real heart of the play: sensationalist violence bordering on the ludicrous. But wait, what if we added puppets?
That’s not the only comic relief in ANDRONICUS! Titus with Ten Clowns, a retelling of the Bard’s first tragedy. There’s adlibbing. Pop songs covers. Slapstick comedy. Title cards with swearing. A sprinkling of Spanish, a drummer who doubles as a rooster. A dead hand on a remote-control car delivering messages. Chaotique Company doesn’t just border on the ludicros. They charge full force into it, turning excessive violence into giggly pandemonium reminiscent of the cartoonish satire and 2000s humor a la South Park.
Director and adaptor Rose Bochner abridges Titus Andronicus into what should be 90 minutes, though the performance ran for two hours when the comedic bits wandered too far from the story. Roman general Titus (Noam Tomaschoff) delivers queen of the Goths, Tamora (Victoria Frings), to Saturninus (Ned Record) the easily manipulated new emperor of Rome. When Titus kills one of Tamora’s sons – the ensemble rips apart a desperate hand puppet – as recompense for his twenty-five sons killed in battle, Tamora vows revenge against the Andronicus family and gains assistance from her secret lover Aaron the Moor (Timothy P. Brown).
The first act of revenge is carried out by her sons, Demetrius and Chiron, two blue fuzzy puppet villains simultaneously operated by Duncan Gregory with assistance from Carlos Chavez. With Gregory deftly switching voices between brothers, it’s a goofy performance that turns menacing when they haul the chaste Lavinia (Paige McGhee), Titus’s daughter, offstage to rape and maim her. When she returns with hands and tongue cut out, her dismemberment morphs into opportunities for more clowning. Her uncle, the sonorous Marcus (Jack de Sanz) draws a large rainbow ribbon from her mouth and laments her mutilation with a playful jab at Shakespeare and audience knowledge: “[The rapist] would have dropped his knife and fell asleep, as Cerberus at the Thracian poet’s feet – a reference that we all get.” During intermission, there’s a performance of the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
Is it in poor taste? Yes, but it’s still funny. The mirth comes from a place of “Should I be laughing at this?” and the mashup of classical text, rowdy humor, lo-fi production, and the earnest good-naturedness of the company. Even the handwritten title cards acknowledged at one point, “We’re all getting cancelled for this.” What’s more, the performance highlights the ridiculousness of the original play’s brutality, misogyny, and racism. Right before transitioning into the second act, Victoria Frings belts out “Til It Happens to You,” Lady Gaga’s anthem written about sexual assault, showing more awareness around the play’s taboos.
The atmosphere is enhanced by the casual outdoors space of Open The Portal studios. You’re encouraged to grab drinks from the bar before, during, and after the show. Patrons splayed out on pillows and blankets with snacks and drinks beneath Christmas lights. Tomaschoff valiantly continued monologuing despite a helicopter overhead while Metro trains passed by in the distance. During the penultimate death scene, a possum moseyed through the barbed wire along the concrete wall before disappearing from view behind a pastel-hued bus painted with multiple eyes.
With this being Chaotique Company’s first show, it’s a fascinating glimpse of what this team is capable of. More digs at the classics or satirical takes? GALOTTI! Emilia with Ten Clowns? Open that portal and send in the mayhem.
Chaotíque Company, Open the Portal, 147 N. Ave. 18, Lincoln Heights. Thurs.-Fri., 8 pm; Sun., Sept. 16, 8 pm, no perf. Sat., Sept. 15; thru Sept. 16. https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/6017592
