Andronicus

Titus Andronicus [VHS]
$999.99
Titus Andronicus, 1999, Dir. Christopher Dunne. Robert Reese, Candy K. Sweet.

Our college has one of the most extensive collections of Shakespeare on video in our area. As one of the professors in charge of the collection, I have watched them all from beginning to end, including this one.

This should be placed in a list of straight Shakespeare's plays because it IS the original script. It is not an adaptation. However, this is not only the worst Shakespeare production ever seen, it may be one of the worst films since Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space. It has overly gross blood and guts, stupid sound effects, terrible music, cardboard sets, ridiculous costumes and the dumbest acting ever seen. Most of you won't watch more than the first five minutes. It looks like amateur night at the fraternity house. It's so bad, it's hilarious! What makes it pathetic is that the actors seem to be trying to play it straight. I'm sorry we ordered it but we will keep it in the collection for comparison. You win some and you lose some.

Those who gave this film good reviews must have been in the cast.

Titus Andronicus (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series)
$17.00
Michael Hordern did a superb acting job. I was very impressed with him, Anthony Qyayle as well. I first heard this performance on tape cassette and was thrilled to hear Judy Dench. She impressed me very much in Hamlet, Henry the 5th also. For a late bloomer (now 67) in the classics I really started gorging Shakespeare after Hordern, Dench, Brannah, Quayle and many others performances. I should have known better being raised in New Orleans but the school systems there was absorbed in jazz, rock and roll i.e. Pete Fountain, Al Hirt, Fats Dommino, Dixieland Jazz, Gospel,gut-wrenching Blues and sort of shaped me for 60 years which led me to listening to the Classics starting with Sabastian Bach.

Titus Andronicus (Folger Shakespeare Library)
$6.99
The quality of the paper was like newspaper, and the play itself was one of Shakespeare's worst. If you just want to read Shakespeare, it is all there in this version. It is great if you don't have a lot of money to spend on a play, but I found the quality of the paper and the body of the book to be distracting. Overall a decent copy.

TITUS ANDRONICUS Adult Sweatshirt
$17.99
50% cotton/50% polyester 8.0 ounce, Double-needle stitched neckline and armholes, Radicispandex blend rib collar cuffs and waistband, Set-in sleeves and dog graphic on front.