By Perry S. Whitehair
On Thursday, I had the pleasure to see my first show at Pinnacle Acting Company. Pinnacle Acting Company chooses to produce classic and contemporary classic works of theatre. So upon hearing that they chose to re-envision William Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Titus Andronicus, I knew that I must take advantage of this.
The show was set in an all-women’s penitentiary in an intimate style black box with only a platform on house right and chalkboard just upstage of center. Fun fact, if you are seated in the front row there is a crowd scene where the actors encourage you to interact with them, breaking the fourth wall. The adaptation and the setting really worked out well for the director L.L West as they made great use of all of the set pieces, which helped the audience understand what happened and when we changed locations in the play.
The story follows Titus who comes home from war with prisoners in tow. Tamora, Queen of the Goths pleads to Titus to spare her son from sacrificing him for the bloodshed that occurred in the wars away from Rome. Titus refuses and thus kills Tamora’s son and leads Tamora to plot her revenge on Titus and his family for the pain that he caused her. We see the systematic and thorough plotting of Tamora nearly bring Titus to insanity. Romans are nervous of getting in between these forces and what they want. Don’t miss the twists and turns that occur that nearly bring Titus to his knees in agony.
To compliment one single actress in the cast would be foolish as the ensemble of Goths, Romans, and even the security guards really contributed to the action that took place on stage. No one ever pulled focus from where the attention needed to be in the moment of the play. That being said, I was especially impressed with the amazing work and acting choices of April Fossen (playing Titus), Anne Louise (Lavinia), and Melanie Nelson (Tamora. Each of these ladies had me connect with their characters stories and either empathize with them (Fossen and Louise) or often makes you love their anti-hero character schemes in the case of (Nelson). To bring all of these characters into the same believable world was pure joy, to which I give the utmost credit to the director for doing what often can be forgotten when creating a show. They highlighted the comedic moments in an otherwise very dark Shakespearean tragedy.
Sets and lighting were nothing to gawk at as they are located in an educational black box space but both served the purpose of the actors and the play effortlessly. This show is not meant for faint hearts as many deaths and other horrendous subject matter occurs on and off-stage but if you have the means and time to see this show, don’t walk but run to it. Find time to see a different take on a classic piece of theatre history from Shakespeare and his time.
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Titus Andronicus
Pinnacle Acting Company, 1250 E 1700 S, Salt Lake City, UT
Ticket inquiries: 801-810-5793
www.pinnacleactingcompany.org
Ticket prices: $18 adults, $15 seniors and students (with valid ID), $15 matinee, Groups of 10 or more $13. (Call ahead to reserve).
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