Titus Andronicus... reimagined
Shakespeare gets a voodoo makeover
Shakespeare gets a voodoo makeover
If you don't know Shakespeare's 'Titus Andronicus', it's the one where pretty much everyone dies. Midway through, Titus's daughter has her hands and tongue cut off... people are buried alive, beheaded, stabbed... it's one big, bloody cycle of revenge, retribution and futility right up til the end where Tamora (Queen of the Goths and nemesis to Titus), is fed the heads of her own two sons baked in a gory pie. Lovely stuff. You should watch the Julie Taymor version on film if you haven't already (just don't eat before it).
With all the talk of revenge, war and sacrifice (and the obvious gory horror movie parallels), I decided to reinvent the play for a new, younger audience, envisaging it set against a backdrop of voodoo and civil unrest after researching the religious cultures of Haiti and Benin. It's not uncommon for mothers who have lost children to carry wooden effigies with them at all times, feeding, clothing and caring for them as if they were still alive. I took this as my central motif, the effigy representing Titus's lost daughter Lavinia, handless and speechless.
As part of the marketing campaign for this (fictional) production I created a series of silkscreened posters and, in place of fliers, lollipops bearing the necessary information. Not only do teens love sweets, but it seemed fitting that people should be able to eat the heads of these little guys just as Tamora did... crunch crunch.
The 'Titus' text and doll motif were hand-done with ink & brush before being scanned in and screenprinted.
With all the talk of revenge, war and sacrifice (and the obvious gory horror movie parallels), I decided to reinvent the play for a new, younger audience, envisaging it set against a backdrop of voodoo and civil unrest after researching the religious cultures of Haiti and Benin. It's not uncommon for mothers who have lost children to carry wooden effigies with them at all times, feeding, clothing and caring for them as if they were still alive. I took this as my central motif, the effigy representing Titus's lost daughter Lavinia, handless and speechless.
As part of the marketing campaign for this (fictional) production I created a series of silkscreened posters and, in place of fliers, lollipops bearing the necessary information. Not only do teens love sweets, but it seemed fitting that people should be able to eat the heads of these little guys just as Tamora did... crunch crunch.
The 'Titus' text and doll motif were hand-done with ink & brush before being scanned in and screenprinted.
