TITUS ANDRONICUS

If this play had a rating it would be R, if it were a book it would come shrink-wrapped. Titus Andronicus is Shakespeare’s most brutal play, and theatre co-operative Cry Havoc is running with that. The three-hour long show is set in the post-apocalyptic dessert and has the stage covered in black sand and large slabs of dark rock against a chilling soundtrack with black costumes of long, draping coats and chunky boots. All this creates a menacing atmosphere with heightening anticipation, but this is a show with peaks and lulls. While most spectators lucky enough to have a strong stomach may find themselves smirking or laughing at the abundance of fake blood and highly energetic, over-the-top violence, the graphic onstage rape and torture scenes reduced this reviewer to a shivering, sweaty mess who had to flee the bloody scene at interval.  This is not a show for the faint-hearted.

Until Nov 5, atyp Studio, Pier 4/5, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, $25-37.50, 9270 2400, cryhavoc.com.au