Fans watching a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre, a thatched reconstruction of an Elizabethan open-air theatre on the south bank of the Thames, have been fainting in shock at the harrowing scenes in one of Shakespeare's bloodiest plays.
Lots of the audience at the Globe stand up whilst watching the performance.
Not for the fainthearted
By Stephanie Condron
(Filed: 03/06/2006)
The Globe Theatre.
Theatre-goers have been told that there is a high risk of fainting at the Globe Theatre's production of one of Shakespeare's bloodiest plays.
First-aid assistants and ushers with wheelchairs have been on hand during performances of Titus Andronicus to help members of the audience who are overcome.
Laura Rees (minus hands) as Lavinia in the Bard's most harrowing play
One scene in particular, in which Titus's daughter Lavinia enters bloodied and ravished, has proved too harrowing for some.
The play opened at the end of last month and is due to run until October. The Globe, a thatched reconstruction of an Elizabethan open-air theatre on the south bank of the Thames, is not revealing exactly how many people have fainted during the first performances. But it issued a statement saying: "We have had a higher level of fainters this year than we normally would experience.
"Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare's more gruesome and bloody plays and audiences should be aware of its graphic nature before seeing it."
Shakespeare is believed to have written the play in the early 1590s - several years before the original Globe was built - and, as reactions at the theatre show, it is still proving surprisingly powerful.
The production was described by The Daily Telegraph as "the wildest, most darkly thrilling night in town". It explores how revenge can backfire and is something of a bloodbath from start to finish.
Titus Andronicus returns triumphant to Rome after battle, having taken Tamora, the Queen of Goths, and her three sons prisoner. When he kills one of her sons the bloody cycle of revenge begins.
It is the sight of Laura Rees, who plays Lavinia, in bloody robes, twitching and convulsing, that is proving too much for some. She has been ravished by Tamora's two sons and has had her tongue cut out and her hands chopped off.
Rees said she saw a young woman faint in front of her on Wednesday night. Within minutes, a middle-aged man nearby had also dropped and a woman in her sixties in the middle gallery, sitting above them, passed out.
Ms Rees without the stage blood
Rees, 27, said: "Normally I do not notice if people faint, as I tend to be quite engrossed in the theatre. But I did notice that first lady. She was slap-bang in the middle at the front. I heard people stumbling around then I could see the ushers dealing with it.
"It is a gruesome idea and a graphic image. A girl covered in blood because she has had her tongue cut out and hands chopped off is a lot to deal with."
Rees, who trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, said: "Everyone knows it is stage blood but it is still shocking."
Fainting is thought to be a particular problem at the Globe, where there is a large, uncovered standing area (as was normal in theatres in Elizabethan England). Some theatre-goers who become tired are sometimes overcome on sunny days and evenings. But that does not explain the spate of fainting during performances in the recent cool spell.
It may not all be attributable to the blood: some theatre-goers are thought to pass out from holding their breath for too long.
telegraph.co.uk
Lots of the audience at the Globe stand up whilst watching the performance.
Not for the fainthearted
By Stephanie Condron
(Filed: 03/06/2006)
The Globe Theatre.
Theatre-goers have been told that there is a high risk of fainting at the Globe Theatre's production of one of Shakespeare's bloodiest plays.
First-aid assistants and ushers with wheelchairs have been on hand during performances of Titus Andronicus to help members of the audience who are overcome.
Laura Rees (minus hands) as Lavinia in the Bard's most harrowing play
One scene in particular, in which Titus's daughter Lavinia enters bloodied and ravished, has proved too harrowing for some.
The play opened at the end of last month and is due to run until October. The Globe, a thatched reconstruction of an Elizabethan open-air theatre on the south bank of the Thames, is not revealing exactly how many people have fainted during the first performances. But it issued a statement saying: "We have had a higher level of fainters this year than we normally would experience.
"Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare's more gruesome and bloody plays and audiences should be aware of its graphic nature before seeing it."
Shakespeare is believed to have written the play in the early 1590s - several years before the original Globe was built - and, as reactions at the theatre show, it is still proving surprisingly powerful.
The production was described by The Daily Telegraph as "the wildest, most darkly thrilling night in town". It explores how revenge can backfire and is something of a bloodbath from start to finish.
Titus Andronicus returns triumphant to Rome after battle, having taken Tamora, the Queen of Goths, and her three sons prisoner. When he kills one of her sons the bloody cycle of revenge begins.
It is the sight of Laura Rees, who plays Lavinia, in bloody robes, twitching and convulsing, that is proving too much for some. She has been ravished by Tamora's two sons and has had her tongue cut out and her hands chopped off.
Rees said she saw a young woman faint in front of her on Wednesday night. Within minutes, a middle-aged man nearby had also dropped and a woman in her sixties in the middle gallery, sitting above them, passed out.
Ms Rees without the stage blood
Rees, 27, said: "Normally I do not notice if people faint, as I tend to be quite engrossed in the theatre. But I did notice that first lady. She was slap-bang in the middle at the front. I heard people stumbling around then I could see the ushers dealing with it.
"It is a gruesome idea and a graphic image. A girl covered in blood because she has had her tongue cut out and hands chopped off is a lot to deal with."
Rees, who trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, said: "Everyone knows it is stage blood but it is still shocking."
Fainting is thought to be a particular problem at the Globe, where there is a large, uncovered standing area (as was normal in theatres in Elizabethan England). Some theatre-goers who become tired are sometimes overcome on sunny days and evenings. But that does not explain the spate of fainting during performances in the recent cool spell.
It may not all be attributable to the blood: some theatre-goers are thought to pass out from holding their breath for too long.
telegraph.co.uk