In Conversation with Kevin Hopkins and Claire Nicholls | Titus Andronicus

In today's Backstage Blog, we spoke to Kevin Hopkins and Claire Nicholls, the co-directors of Titus Andronicus, which opens at Theatre Works on November 13.

Witness Shakespeare’s ultra-violent tragedy told in absurd nightmare-scape: an ensemble driven piece evoking horror through abstraction, surrealism and the body in space. A cautionary tale for our times pitting revenge and cruelty against resilience and tenderness.

Q: It's the show on the tip of everyone's tongue! How has the Titus Andronicus process been so far?

KEVIN: It has been a wild ride. From the onset, the heightened material within the play (the language, and themes related to violence) has forced us to present in a way that can contact a modern audience in a non literal way. Our cast have a huge collective amount of experience in Shakespeare, and this experience is informing decisions both on the floor and at the table in discussions. We have been able to delve deeper into the play this time (we first developed this production as part of Prague Shakespeare Company’s Shakespeare Summer Intensive) as there has been more time, and a better understanding of what we are attempting to show and expose. 

CLAIRE: For the first half of the rehearsal process we’ve been working without our Titus, Josh Morisson, who is based in Prague. He’ll be joining us from next week which we’re all really looking forward to! 

Q: You've called your take on the play 'nightmarish and surreal' with allusions to horror and the absurd. Without giving too much away, what should audiences expect when they see Titus Andronicus at Theatre Works?

CLAIRE: One of the big questions for us when we decided to tackle Titus in the first place was how to go about depicting gore and violence: basically whether to go literal or stylised. In the end we decided to lean into the aspect of the horror genre in which what is unseen, half seen or implied is potentially more disturbing than a splatter fest. Let’s leave something open to the audiences’ imagination! Expect moments of physical violence told through ensemble movement pieces and images of horror that are symbolic and dreamlike. We’re hoping to conjure chilling moments for an audience but there won’t be any actual blood. On this, while it’s known as Shakespeare’s most violent play, there are also several moments of absurdity and dark comedy. This is another question: how to tread the fine line between treating the harrowing themes within the play with respect while drawing out humour at the correct times to create moments of release. 

Q: I love asking this one because creatives always have such different perspectives on the matter - what role do you think Shakespeare staged in 2025 plays in our independent theatre scene?

CLAIRE: This is a great question. I think it’s always important to look back at the classical canon alongside the creation of new work. The two can be in dialogue with each other. With Shakespeare specifically, I think he had this uncanny ability (amongst all of his other uncanny abilities in regards to holding the mirror up to nature!) to extract and present the problematic aspects of human beings. Our frailties and our cruelties: things we’re frightened to confront but that do drive us and can sometimes cause us to do ridiculous or heinous things. I think by witnessing the actions of Shakepeare’s characters in the pressure cooker predicaments in which they find themselves, we can potentially glean some understanding of why the world is the way it is. Titus Andronicus in particular depicts characters in a landscape of extreme violence in which revenge seems to be the only possible path of redemption. I think that speaks to the terrible conflict we see across the world today. Maybe we continue to perform these plays in search of empathy and new tools of change? That sounds a bit lofty. Maybe it’s just that the writing is just so delicious and the characters continue to cry out to be performed!

KEVIN: The fact that Shakespeare is performed by independent theatre companies today is really interesting. Independent theatre is not commercial theatre, we don’t do this to make money, we do it because it speaks to us as artists and humans, and we believe it has something to say, other than selling tickets and making a profit. I believe therefore, that commercial and/or funded companies program Shakespeare for totally different reasons than independent unfunded companies do. Independent artists commit much time and energy in presenting these 400+ year old plays, often for minimal or no financial reward, because we think they have a message for a modern audience.

Q: What will surprise audiences about this work?

CLAIRE: People are often scared of Titus Andonicus because of its confronting and problematic themes. Fair enough too! I think anyone who is Titus curious but a bit nervous will be surprised by images of beauty alongside horror. The hardcore soundtrack by Max Hopkins is outstanding: it’s a character in and of itself! The play will also surprise you with its wry sense of humour. Also, last night we had our first stumble through of the play and had actor Phil Sumner read in for Titus. At the end of the run he said yes of course it’s violent but he was surprised by how moving it was. It’s a much more emotionally nuanced play than people give it credit for.

Q: What's been the most memorable moment in your process so far?

CLAIRE: For me, the most memorable moments have been workshopping and creating the ensemble movement pieces that thread through the story. Also, working on the scene in which Lavinia is revealed after her assault and found by her uncle Marcus. This is such a haunting, nightmarish moment and we’re finding a really simple, stylised way to let it unfold.

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Titus Andronicus will play November 13-22 at Theatre Works.

Click here to get your tickets!