This sketch is at the top of a page of quotations from Titus Andronicus, which is signed Henricus Peacham, with a date possibly of 1595 It shows an uncertain scene with a mixture of costumes - only Titus being dressed in a Roman toga; but Aaron the Moor is clearly African. From the Library of the Marqess of Bath, Longleat House.

                            STAGING TITUS ANDRONICUS

This distasteful play was popular in Elizabethan times (it appeared in five editions before 1642) and it has become so again today - perhaps an inditement of audiences in both periods, because the script exploits horror and brutality to the point that modern stagings (such as that at U.C. Santa Cruz) often require medical facilities to handle hysterical reactions in the audience to the mutilations, rape, and cannibalism in the script.  It may be that the youthful Shakespeare was just trying to outdo contemporary theatrical excesses, or we may even take refuge in the debatable opinion of some scholars that the play is at least in part attributable to George Peele, who wrote similar plays. More scholarly interest lies in the above Elizabethan sketch of a possible scene from the play which can be compared to deliberate modern analogues (Gallery 7.4.14-16).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Bate, Jonathan, "The Theatrical Life" in Jonathan Bate, ed., Titus Andronicus, London: Routledge (Arden 3),1995, 37-69.

Bate. Jonathan, Titus Andronicus, Arden Third Series (reprint of 1996), London: Thomas Learning, 2006.

Brantley,Ben, "Shakespeare in War: More Timely Than Ever", [Titus at RSC & Globe, UK), New York Times [Arts] 7/8/06, A13,17.

Cerasano, S. P. "'Borrowed robes,' Costume Prices, and the Drawing of Titus Andronicus",  Shakespeare Studies 22 (1994): 45-57.

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Fink, Joel G. "The Conceptualization and Realization of Violence in Titus Andronicus", On-Stage Studies 12 (1989): 1-10.

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Galery, Maria Clara Versiani. "Staging Practices in the Elizabethan Theater: Titus Andronicus at the Rose", Resende , Aimara da Cunha, editor. Foreign Accents: Brazilian Readings of Shakespeare, 100-113. Newark: University of Delaware Press; London: Associated University Presses, 2002.

Hughes, Alan, ed., Titus Andonicus, Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Hurwitt, Robert, "Cleaning up Bard's Gory Mess" [Titus Andronicus, California Shakespeare Theatre], San Francisco Chronicle,  Datebook, E1-2, 6 June 2011. 

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Shakespeare, William, Alexander, Peter, editor, Titus Andronicus. London: BBC, New York: mayflower, 1986.

Shaw, William P. "Text, Performance, and Perspective: Peter Brook's Landmark Production of Titus Andronicus , 1955." Theatre History Studies 10 (1990): 31-55.

Sher, Antony; Doran, Gregory. Woza Shakespeare! Titus Andronicus in South Africa. London: Methuen, 1996.

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Talkin' Broadway.com, 1997 - 2010 a project of www.TalkinBroadway.Org, Inc. (search for play title to get recent reviews) .

Wells, Stanley, Titus Andronicus: A Programme Text with Commentary. Stratford-upon-Avon: RSC Publications, 1987.
 

Titus Andronicus: Ira Aldridge (1807-67) as Aaron the Moor (IV.ii).
    Ira Aldridge was the first black American theatre star.