SOURCE: De Luca, Maria and Mary Lindroth. “Mayhem, Madness, Method: An Interview with Julie Taymor.” Cineaste 25, no. 3 (2000): 28-31.

In the following interview, De Luca and Lindroth record Julie Taymor's thoughts on her film adaptation of Titus Andronicus, including her awareness of significant differences between Titus and stage representations of the drama, and her feelings about the role of violence in the film.

Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus “is not meant to be read,” says Julie Taymor, “but to be performed.” This bloody revenge tragedy is rarely performed, however, because of its controversial and disturbing nature. Its infamy stems largely from scenes of mutilation, rape, and murder and the play's macabre mixture of comedy and tragedy. Titus Andronicus was popular with the audiences of Shakespeare's day, but fell into disfavor in the eighteenth century (when King Lear was rewritten with a happy ending) because its horror, pathos, and nightmarish humor didn't...