HSF: Titus Andronicus (THURSDAY)

Titus Andronicus is a play about the collapse of a civilization.

The titular character, Titus Andronicus, returns from decades of war battling the fierce Goths, having dedicated his entire life, his family and his very being to an idea of Rome—a Rome of order, honor, courage, and justice. So profound is his belief in law and justice that he kills his own son in a misguided sense of duty.

Titus then negotiates a series of unimaginable tragedies, as the world collapses around him, bringing him to the brink of madness. After unrelenting horrors, Titus becomes an instrument of revenge. Yet revenge is destructive, creating cyclical chaos; it is antithetical to an organized, functioning community

This production sets the action in contemporary America, urging us not to turn a blind eye to our own potential ruin. Never has Shakespeare’s “most violent play” been more relevant.

Host or Publisher Hawaii Shakespeare Festival