Titus AndrOnIcus (abridged)
written by William Shakespeare, directed by Zillah Glory Langsjøen
two families
💀
trapped between grief & grievance
〰️
two families 💀 trapped between grief & grievance 〰️
About this play
Unbearable choices between forgiveness and revenge force two families into a downward spiral in a relentless decay of spirit, connection and hope. Does anyone win the dangerous tug-of-war between grief and grievance?
Written by William Shakespeare, this “true-crime” story was the FIRST of his tragedies, and the birth-play for themes that would arise again in Othello, King Lear, and MacBeth. Wildly popular in his day partly because* it was considered so outrageous, today it reads as a wake-up call.
And yes, there is a birth in this production.
DETAILS:
6 shows only
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Doors open at 6:40 pm
10 actors playing 21 characters (3 of them children represented by puppet-pawns)
Playing July 23, 24, 25, 27, 31, and August 1 at The Black Forest Inn (26th and Nicollet)
Sliding scale tickets are $10 - $50
Grab your tickets and reserve a pre-show dinner
Adult beverages are welcome into the playing space
Programs are hand fans featuring a QR code for actor bios ~ 🪭
Not recommended for anyone under age 16. Rated R for language, sexuality, and violence.
This production contains depictions and discussions of simulated violence and murder, including against female characters, bodily violation, threats of harm to a newborn (referred to, not depicted), depictions of sexual assault and the aftermath, racist comments, and political corruption.
Stylized blood, represented through red ribbon, is used alongside red liquid to represent real blood. If you need to step out at any point, you are welcome back.
All violence shown is choreographed and was developed in collaboration with the actors performing it, to ensure their consent and respect their boundaries.
The Birth Play Project is a Minneapolis-based company of artists committed to reproductive stories. For more about us, you can always visit birthplayproject.com, join our mailing list to learn more, or email us directlyto ask how you can participate in future productions.
Meet the Cast of 10, playing 21
CAST BIOS
Kjer Whiting - Titus Andronicus (he/him), recently directed Triassiq Parq, (Minneapolis Musical Theatre) and A Pink Triangle (Phoenix Arts Nest) but is usually seen onstage acting. Some of his favorite roles include: Niels Bohr in Copenhagen, (Melancholics Anonymous); Ben Johnson in Book of Will, (Theatre Pro Rata); Frost in Frost Nixon, (TheatreX), Sal in True West, (Theatre in The Round); Algenon in Importance of Being Earnest, (Out of The Mist); Horst in Bent, (Band Group), Pisanio in Cymbeline, (Brick by Brick), and Tupolski in The Pillowman. His favorite type of pie is Shepherd's Pie followed by a homemade wild blueberry and lemon pie or COLD strawberry Rhubarb pie or....
Ben Glisczinski - Saturninus / First Goth (he/him) is thrilled to be making his BPP debut. Locally, he has worked with Lyric Arts, Frosted Glass Creative, and The Children’s Theatre Company where he is a member of the 2025-2026 Acting Cohort. His favorite pie is mixed berry, full crust on top.
Arcadia German - Bassianus / Young Lucius / Æmilius (she/her) is a California-born actor who relocated to Minneapolis for the tropical weather. She made her BPP debut with Measure for Measure (2024). Recently seen in various BARd Shakes productions as well as Gray Mallard’s Romeo and Juliet. Theatre that is exciting, challenging, and thought-provoking is at the heart of her artist mission. In recent years, Arcadia has also had the pleasure to be a Tap Dancing Bear/Ensemble (Cinderella-Sacramento Theatre Company), Baby Blue (Marvelous Miss Marvel-Open Eye Driveway Tour), Michele (The Dirty - Playwrights Center), and many more. When not on the stage Arcadia loves photography, dance, writing plays of her own, and hanging out with the best corgi in the world Woody! Her favorite pie is apple pie with a streusel crumble top.
Olivia Nelson - Marcus Andronicus / Mutius (puppet-son) (she/they) is a Minneapolis-based actor, visual artist, and theatre-maker. Olivia recently relocated from Duluth, where she earned her BFA in Acting, in Musical Theatre, and a minor in Art. She’s one half of Little Lamp Theatre Company, a creative collaboration with Irie Unity, her partner in art and life. You may have seen them last year at MN Fringe, in One Who is Home (co-written, produced, and performed with Irie), and in Romeo and Juliet: Lottery Style. Duluth credits include: Home, I’m Darling (Alex), Cinderella (Gabrielle), Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (Marya). She thanks BPP for welcoming her into this show, and her favorite pie is apple. Thanks to Irie, Jack, Sam, Jerry, and Bijou. olivia-nelson.com
Isabella Dunsieth - Tamora, Queen of the Goths (she/her) is a writer, improviser, and actor in the Twin Cities. She is a founding member of the improv groups Latins on Ice and Opera Punks. Isabella is proud to be an Associate Artist with the Birth Play Project as well as a core cast member at the Brave New Workshop. Titus Andronicus is Isabella's favorite play in the Shakespeare canon and she couldn't be more excited to bring this rarely-produced show to life! Her favorite pie is cheesecake. "Is that a pie?" you ask? Why yes, yes it is. Think about it.
Tia Tanzer - Aaron the Moor (they/she) is an Associate Artist with the Birth Play Project, and a lover of chicken pot pie.
Gigi Mueller - Lavinia / The Nurse (she/her)is a Twin Cities based actor, vocalist and writer, and a proud Associate Artist with the Birth Play Project. Recent credits include work with the BPP, Melancholics Anonymous New Play Reading Series, Twin Cities Horror Festival, and BARd Shakes. When not making or thinking about theatre, she can be found dancing, reading, frolicking somewhere green, or putting together An Outfit. Her favorite kind of pie is blueberry.
Jonathan Steven Edwards - Lucius Andronicus / The Clown (he/him) is excited to join the Birth Play Project for their production of Titus Andronicus. He has performed all over the world with The Royal Shakespeare Company, Milwaukee Rep, The Illinois Shakespeare Festival, The Modern Rep, Theatre Pro Rata, and many more. He loves baking and thinks pie is better than cake, his personal favorite is lemon meringue pie. Please lean forward and enjoy the show.
Porter Eldredge - Demetrius / Martius (puppet-son) / Goth Army Porter (they/them) is so excited to be in Titus Andronicus this summer! They love theatre that makes you laugh but also stings and forces the audience to reflect. When they’re not tripping across the stage, scanning their text, or doing Meisner repetition, they’re probably training for another marathon, reading Russian literature or watching a baseball game. Their favorite pie is Pecan!
Luciana Stich - Chiron / Alarbus (Goth puppet-son) / Quintus (Roman puppet-son) / Goth Army (she/they) is bloody excited to be a part of this killer play! This is their first time performing with the BPP, and her first time performing Shakespeare. They are a recent graduate of the BA Theatre Arts program at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, where they performed in Fucking A (Canary Mary), Cabaret (Fräulein Schneider), and The Skin of Our Teeth (Mrs. Antrobus). In addition to being a performer, she is also an intimacy choreographer, and worked on the University’s productions of Mac Beth and Witch, as well as Neon Breeze for the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Their favorite kind of pie is key lime. ;)
A Message IN reverse ~ TItus as a catalyst for Healing
There’ve been many discussions and one published article (CLICK HERE👀) about what is behind the ethos of this season for BPP and for this show in particular, but today as I write, we’re close to opening and, while doing the usual scramble for last looks, last requests, and a suddenly impassioned outreach for ticketing, my focus has closed in onto what it is about small group activity in the face of overwhelming odds that is so heroic, and ultimately, so healing.
Working with actors, Dr. Maya Angelou’s famous advice on human behavior…
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. People know themselves much better than you do. That's why it's important to stop expecting them to be something other than who they are."
… gets embedded into finding character through the shortened phrase “People are what they do.”
We tend to come into a rehearsal cycle with all our ideas, feelings, histories, and immediate currency, and then are reminded, through this tool, that we have permission to trust (to know) what we see and feel happening. From there, we begin removing the layers of intellectualism that obscure the brunt and blunt end of what really hurts, what really matters, or what is really loved. We get down to the bones of who we are, who the characters we are embodying are, and make peace with how wide the gap can occasionally be between, so that we can utterly justify them.
As violent as the messaging of Titus is, the outcome, should we all take on the self-inquiry it invites, is room for healing. Said another way, we can repeat the failures, or we can make new choices.
This text runs full circle and mostly downhill, and then stops at the point just before we find out whether the returned son (Lucius) will take on the mantle of power in a new way. Is he Goth? Is he Roman? Is he a hybrid now? Is he the same man who tried to protect his brothers and was banished for it? Has he learned anything?
Mpls knows too well the critical need for community (belonging) and for looking out for our neighbors. Our performance space is a stone’s throw from where Alex Pretti died. This show and rehearsal process, paired with our choice to peer deeply into the relationships and birth-lines of each of the characters in a text that otherwise can seem committed to raising bloody middle fingers to hope throughout - has offered a gift in the end: it calls for the best in us, even when odds appear overwhelming.
What has been palpably accessed in this process is a kind of resilient joy and open curiosity that I truly hope can inspire room for new vision and new possibility in you. It is in the sheer act (🎭) of gathering together that we create space for community, connection, collective action, and collective joy.
Here’s the section of the article I just read that jumped out at me in relation to Titus Andronicus and to what the BPP ethos, as embodied through the participants in this play, has caused me to learn:
“Healing, though, in somatic practice, is not simply a personal journey. “Healing can also happen through community, collective action, cultural connection, storytelling, collective joy,” says Nadal. Somatic healing, then, is social. And it is not a productivity hack or a self-help strategy designed simply to allow you to survive oppression. “The goal of any treatment should not be to just help people adjust to an oppressive world; instead, it should be a goal to also build conditions where that oppressive world causes less harm in the first place,” says Nadal.”
Thank you for joining us, for flinching at the appropriate moments, and then maybe for carrying a healthier vision forward, sans the mysterious pie and all the violence. ~ Zillah Glory Langsjøen
THE CREATIVE PRoduction TEAM
CREATIVE TEAM BIOs
Zillah Glory Langsjøen - Director (she/her) is an AEA/SAG-AFTRA actress, a 15 year audition and acting coach, a producer, a cat-mama (dogs are always welcome), an eldest daughter and sister to six, head over for her partner, a baby-steps tango dancer, and the owner of HiQuity Solutions, a behavioral health consulting firm specializing in mental health/substance use recovery business support and systems transformation. Her favorite pie is cherry rhubarb.
H Ashley - Assistant Director (Fight & Intimacy) (they/them) is a Queer, disabled, White & Indigenous theatre artist with 25+ years of movement & performance experience. Having spent the last eight years focused on intimacy & fight work, they draw upon their extensive training to create spaces where actors feel empowered to tell complex stories. This is H's first opportunity to work with the Birth Play Project and they are so grateful to the company and cast for the trust and collaborative energy. Other recent companies they’ve enjoyed working with include Phipps Center for the Arts, Theatre in the Round, Lyric Arts, and Hamline University. Outside of the rehearsal room, H can be found at the yoga studio, caring for their extensive houseplant collection, or continuing their baking experiments in pursuit of the perfect chocolate cake.
Clara Costello - Stage Manager- (she her) is a stage manager and a beekeeper. She is an artistic associate with Theatre Pro Rata, and a returning venue tech at the MN Fringe Festival. Her favorite pie is honeyberry.
David Pisa - Lighting Design David Pisa (he/him) is the Executive Director and a founding member of Walking Shadow Theatre Company. He also works backstage at Children's Theatre Company, and is a freelance escape room designer.
Cohen Rautenkranz - Builder, Martial Consultant (he/him) is an electrical engineer, former Marine, polymath, and lover of beautiful things, who is driven by a deep and abiding curiosity in nearly any topic. He holds multiple degrees in Integrated (electrical/mechanical) Engineering, Mathematics, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Computer and Electrical Engineering at the University of MN focusing on fabrication of nano scale structures with esoteric materials. He specializes in developing novel solutions to complex, multifaceted challenges - the harder, the better. Cohen's world revolves around his amazing partner, his two wonderful children, and many, great friends. He is a singer, guitar player, and dog lover, who has more hobbies, sports, and interests than any sane human ever should. He is deeply passionate about lifelong learning, committed to evolving as a kind, good, and just human being, and loves to explore the endless possibilities of the world and people around him. (Also, he has shark teeth. Big ones.)
Taj Ruler - Sound Design (she/her) is a freelance artist (15+ years), performs at The Brave New workshop in Minneapolis, and does commercial voice over work. Taj is also a teacher and educator, moving through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion. She has a degree from Pitzer College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre Performance and Media Studies, and has studied at the Guthrie Theatre, the Brave New Workshop, and The London Dramatic Academy.
Ellen Hein - Costume Builder (she/they) is a costumer and fiber geek native to the Twin Cities. You can see her work at multiple schools and community theaters in the area, some of her recent work includes Hadestown at Champlin Park and Jekyll&Hyde with Ashland Productions. Ellen studied costume construction at DePaul University and has a Bachelor of Design from The University of Minnesota. She lives in West Saint Paul with her partners, child, and pets. When she's not costuming she loves to spend time working on her house, probably while listening to an audiobook.
Siv Earley - Costume Builder - (she/her) is a neighbor, a friend, a committed sewer, and is delighted to have been part of her first experience working with actors.
Arcadia German - Marketing Lead - Associate Artist with the Birth Play Project (see actor bio)
Tia Tanzer - Dramaturgy - Associate Artist with the Birth Play Project (see actor bio)
Isabella Dunsieth - Script Editor - Associate Artist with the Birth Play Project (see actor bio)
Robert McGrady - Art, Props, Set (he/him) is an artist from Minneapolis, MN, who works in fine art and performance contexts. Robert uses a multidisciplinary approach to explore themes of abjection and desire. In 2020, he graduated with a Bachelor degree from the University of Minnesota in Theatre and Visual Art. He has been a designer for a number of theatre companies and currently is an associate artist with the Birth Play Project. Learn more about Robert's practice at www.robertmcgrady.art. His favorite pie is shepherd's pie.
Will Schroeder - Puppet & Mask Builder (he/him) is a Twin Cities-based actor, puppeteer, and producer known for his work in local independent theater, improv comedy, and puppet productions like Razia's Shadow: A Puppet Rock Opera.
SPECIAL THANK YOUS
To Pastor Luna and Pastor Phil at Edgcumbe Presbyterian Church for rehearsal space and sanctuary when we needed it
To Erica and Gina for accepting more theater-makers into the Black Forest Inn for performance
To the generous James E-T for photography (wow…!)
To Bruce Mueller for so* many* extension cords
To Dinah Langsjoen for creating the solution that resulted in the program-fans
To Clara Costello for untold props support on top of everything else
To Ellen Hein for arriving like an angel last minute to beef up the costumes
To Siv Earley for stepping in at the beginning to get us started with them despite being busy
To David Pisa (Walking Shadow!) for being a consummate professional, leader and light-bringer, and then …
…. for the additional support from Carleton College Department of Theater and Dance, Jungle Theater, Walking Shadow Theatre Company,Children's Theatre Company, Mixed Blood Theatre, Tony Stoeri, Ray Steveson, and Paul Epton as a result, wow for you all, thank you so much!
To H Ashley 🌿 for being the best co-pilot possible and a bad-ass fight and intimacy director
To Mason Tyer for the use of the weapons (there are so many!)
To Isabella Dunsieth, Tia Tanzer, Arcadia German, Robert McGrady, and Gigi Mueller for going above and beyond the call of duty as Birth Play Project company members who stepped into the production side with generosity and open hearts
To Isabella and Arcadia in particular for being the Morale Producers (!truly!)
To Cohen Rautenkranz for being the Zillah-whisperer, donating his truck (Duke) for transportation more times than expected, and all the help with errands, late night costume dye jobs, and being a direct resource for military history and knowledge
To Will Schroeder for being a great human being and a killer puppet builder (!)
There are probably more special thanks that need to be added, but let’s start here.
It’s nearly impossible to create theater without creating community. This is the most amazing community. Thank you for being here with us.
A NOTE ON THIS ADAPTATION
This production presents Titus Andronicus in an adaptation by Isabella Dunsieth, condensed from approximately 95 pages to 70, intended to sharpen focus onto the families and relationships at the center of the story, ensuring the pace remains relentless. Several scenes have been cut or consolidated; actors are doubling or tripling roles, a couple of smaller characters have been subsumed into larger ones, and the convention of 3 puppets to stand in for the young young sons used as pawns (on both sides) has been added. In keeping with BPP’s mission, we’ve brought the birth of Tamora and Aaron’s son onstage. The play runs 110 minutes with no intermission.
SYNOPSIS
Roman general Titus Andronicus returns home from a decade at war against the Goths, triumphant and exhausted. He brings with him Tamora, Queen of the Goths, and her sons as captives. When he sacrifices Tamora's eldest son to honor his own fallen soldiers, he sets in motion a cycle of revenge that neither Rome nor his family will survive.
Tamora marries the newly crowned Emperor Saturninus, and suddenly she is no longer a prisoner, but Empress. She does not forget what was done to her son, and as her vengeance unfolds - with Aaron the Moor at her side - Rome descends into chaos.
At the center of everything is a question no one in this play can answer cleanly: who gets to decide what “justice” looks like? In the end, Titus Andronicus offers no resolution, only a mirror and the question “What next?”
PRODUCTION NOTES
Titus Andronicus is Shakespeare's earliest tragedy and, by most measures, his most violent. Written around 1593–94, it was enormously popular in its own time and published repeatedly by a press known for crowd-pleasing horror before falling largely out of favor for nearly three centuries. Its recent return to stages and scholarship has coincided, not coincidentally, with renewed reckoning around state violence, racial hierarchy, and the systemic silencing of many bodies.
This production takes some of its cue from Ovid's Metamorphoses, the text Lavinia uses to identify her assailants, and from the idea that transformation in this play is almost always violent. The characters, most of them responsive to love and wisdom, are still unable or unwilling to pull themselves out of the downward spiral of getting even. All of them are changed by loss, by exposure, and by the moment their very real grief becomes something they can no longer hold. In this play, they choose violence.
Rome in this play is a civilization that defines itself by what it excludes, and that collapses when that exclusion turns inward.
A note on Aaron, often framed as this play's villain: we are more interested in him as its most honest character, the one who names what everyone else is doing without flinching, refuses to pretend otherwise, and, in the end, is the only parent in the story who chooses his child's life over his own power.
SUPPORT THE WORK
The Birth Play Project creates work that would not exist without community support. If this production moved you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through Springboard for the Arts.
Donate: givemn.org/organization/Springboard-For-The-Arts
The Birth Play Project is a sponsored project of Springboard for the Arts, a nonprofit arts service organization exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; Taxpayer Identification Number 41-1690483.
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