It might be fair to surmise Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus as such: whoever has the stomach for the most vicious, merciless, bloodthirsty revenge, wins. However urgent the need for retaliation might be, where will it end, and who will we be, once it’s over? Shakespeare has written a drama of extremes, featuring one atrocity after another. Without going into a lot of detail, Roman General Titus Andronicus returns from 10 years of war with the Goths. He has taken Tamora, Queen of the Goths, prisoner, along with her three sons. Titus executes her eldest son in expiation for the loss of his own, and we’re off to the races. This is the Shakespeare play famous for the rape of Lavinia, in which her hands and tongue are cut off, and the scene in which Tamora is hoodwinked into eating her own sons.
It’s 400 A. D. Gary, an unsuccessful clown of the same name, is hired to help clear away corpses from the banquet hall of Titus Andronicus, after the recent coup. The room is positively filled with them. The position is definitely a step up for our humble hero, and he arrives for work, all bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Janice, who has been doing this job for quite some time, is understandably, a bit jaded. Nonetheless, she treats each member of the deceased with due respect, showing Gary how to drain off caustic fluids, and relieve the body of excess gas, lest it explode. (I know. I know.)
I should add here, the male bodies sport some impressive penises. My guess is that playwright Taylor Mac is making a statement about rampant machismo and genocide. Being a clown and all, Gary fools around, quite a bit. But overworked Janice has no time for Gary’s hi-jinks and shenanigans. Enter Carole, another servant who was present when Aaron attempted to murder the baby lovechild he’s sired with Tamora.
Of course, “black humor” doesn’t begin to cover Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, which turns on the fine theatrical tradition of the grotesque. Think Grand Guignol. Titus Andonicus is a commentary on conflating honor with mutilation and retribution. The violence is so excessive, so out-of-control, that nihilism is lost on the perpetrators. Certain characters are actually killed by accident. When despots are lauded as heroes, when they are accountable to no one, havoc is inevitable. Gary, when he stumbles upon the finery of aristocracy, shares it with Janice and Carole. Merely wearing it is intoxicating, and they celebrate their enhanced quality of life.
You might think that the grisly, cynical, anarchy of Gary, might be too dark for enjoyment. But somehow Taylor Mac has found the perfect remedy for the misery and despair of battle that devours the working classes, because it can. Everything in this comedy is so appalling, so dizzy in its audacity and desecration, it becomes the perfect metaphor for self-perpetuating rage and contempt. Gary is remarkable, inspired satire. Loopy prestidigitation. Miss it at your peril. (tee-hee)
Kitchen Dog Theater presents: Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, playing March 17th-April 3rd, 2022. Trinity River Arts Center. 2600 North Stemmons Freeway, Suite 180, Dallas, Texas, 75207. KitchenDogTheater.org. 214-953-1055.