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Titus Andronicus
Western Reserve Playhouse Presents Shakespeare’s The Lamentable Tragedy of TITUS ANDRONICUS
Bath, OH—Western Reserve Playhouse (WRP), the award-winning historic barn theatre of Summit County, continues its bold 2025–2026 season with The Lamentable Tragedy of TITUS ANDRONICUS, running May 22 through June 1, 2025. Shakespeare’s most savage tragedy, Titus Andronicus is a revenge story with no brakes. When Roman war hero Titus returns home, he expects honor; but gets betrayal in its place. The new emperor turns against him, the Queen of the Goths sets a plan for revenge in motion, and her lover, Aaron, orchestrates a campaign of cruelty that tears Titus’s world apart. Under their schemes, his daughter is violently silenced, his sons are framed and executed, and the line between justice and vengeance disappears. What follows is a spiral of violence where every act of cruelty demands another, and no one makes it out clean.
Directed by WRP Artistic Director August Scarpelli, this ambitious production reimagines the tragedy in a barbarous Rome that exists "elsewhen"; a world suspended between Republic and Empire, civility and collapse. This marks the first time Titus has returned to Northeast Ohio since 2010, and it does so with a renewed sense of purpose and innovation. Without the capacity for traditional blood effects, the production turns to evocative design, symbolic storytelling, and emotional rawness to conjure the brutality of Shakespeare’s most lamentable tragedy.
“Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand,
Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.”
—Aaron, Titus Andronicus, Act II, Scene III
The limitations of WRP’s 160-year-old barn become artistic strengths in the hands of Scarpelli, along with production designer Kelly Pilkenroth, whose use of lighting, fabric, gesture, and abstraction transforms violence into something hauntingly evocative. Rather than leaning on gore, this Titus Andronicus embraces a theatrical language that stirs the imagination and centers the words. Rather than relying on gallons of stage blood, the production focuses on the emotional weight behind every act of violence. Scarpelli and the creative team emphasize the human cost of revenge, using the intimacy of WRP’s space to draw the audience closer to the trauma, tension, and unraveling that define the play.
The ensemble features Jim Fippin as Titus, Tamara French as Aaron, Jill Kenderes as Tamora, and Cecil Eastman as Marcus. Arunie Lopez appears as the doomed Lavinia, with Keenan Carosielli as Lucius and Dylan Todd Brown as Saturninus. Anna Popa portrays both Bassianus and the Nurse, with Reilly Davidson and Zach Manthey as Tamora’s sons, Demetrius and Chiron. Supporting roles are brought to life by Kayleigh Joyce, Natalie Joritz, Maria Schreiner, Mario Becerra, and Emily Donaldson.
The production team includes Meghan Barylak (Dramaturg and Assistant Director), Austin Vandegrift (Violence Liaison and Assistant Director), Dan Hunsicker (Technical Director), and Angela Warholic (Stage Manager). With Scarpelli at the helm, the company leans into WRP’s legacy as a home for artists willing to take risks and explore the raw core of classic texts.
Performances run Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 PM and Sundays at 2:00 PM. Tickets are available now. Seating is limited in this unique 95-seat venue. Audiences are encouraged to book early for this bold, one-of-a-kind Shakespearean tragedy.
For press inquiries, interviews, or more information, please contact:
Media Contact:
Braelin Andrzejewski
Marketing Coordinator
Western Reserve Playhouse
Braelin@thewrp.org
Event Links
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/3015699-0
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3015699-2
