Titus Andronicus review — Shakespeare’s gorefest is transformed by a female cast

★★★★☆
Titus Andronicus is the Shakespeare play that makes Quentin Tarantino look squeamish, a ribald gorefest in which stabbings, amputations and a little light cannibalism give us an intestines-and-all depiction of ancient Rome. Jude Christian’s female and non-binary production is as scabrously witty as it is sadistic, a cabaret of cruelty that transforms Shakespeare’s first tragedy — and reportedly most popular play in his lifetime — into a show referencing everything from Ovid to Squid Game.

The acerbic tone is quickly set as the entire cast — wearing monochrome suits in vivid, Haribo-sweet colours — perform a song by George Heyworth and Liv Morris, otherwise known as the mordantly hilarious Bourgeois & Maurice. These cult stars of the cabaret scene have sprinkled the lyrics