Titus the clown: After Titus Andronicus
Hastings Theatre Project Scratch night, The stables theatre, 2024
Photos from a performance of a 20-minute extract of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, using excerpts of Handel opera, modern day text and clown. Featured in the image here is Ellie Westbrook and project collaborator TD van der Beek (and Molly Hemsley).
“A brilliantly acrobatic and humorous rendition of T. Adronicus (utilizing teddy bears) effectively recreating all the whoppingly mad excess of the original.”
“I have never enjoyed Shakespeare until just now”
Ever wondered if you’re the only one who has secret cruel intentions?
This show has.
This show is silly, ready and is trying to be more honest.
Join us on this cooking-show escape-room clown-opera,
While we ask the characters in Titus Andronicus, “Did killing everyone make you feel better?”
If you love sharing pie, mid-show sing-alongs and talking about feelings, then this show is for you!
Audiences leave saying, “That was insane!”, “I understand Shakespeare!” and “I’m gonna call my
mum”.
As we ask, “How can we make sure our children will always feel able to talk to their parents about the tricky stuff?”.
examples of my DISCLIPLINES
OPERA:
CLOWN:
my performance company “TUFT” - curated / produced events
Concert at the Castle, 2024
Performers: Balladeste, Tullis Rennie, Bev Lee Harling, Davood Jafari, Eleanor Westbrook
Lighting designer: Peter Hudson
“Hugely atmospheric and unlike anything I have seen before. Unique and incredibly impressive.”
“The location, the time of year/day, the lighting, and the way the concert was curated all created a sort of sensory immersion experience. Something more than ‘watching’ or ‘listening’.”
Concert in the Caves, 2025
devised and performed by Pebble (Anna Dennis, Bev Lee Harling, Tara Franks, Eleanor Westbrook)
“the setting is like no other but the sound was truly transporting. We were completely with you for every second - it was moving and euphoric and funny and unpredictable.”
“the atmosphere was amazing.”
examples of project collaborator’s work
~ Anna-Marie Nabiyre ~
“the actress Anna-Maria Nabirye projects superbly; she has a full, low timbre and an earthy directness that make her convincing as an excitable London teenager or as a great-grandmother on a remote Borders farmstead.”
The Times, Christina Hardyment ( Audio Book: Girl Woman Other by Bernardine Evaristo)
“And Anna-Maria Nabirye splendidly uncorks the second half with a devastating
monologue about the way black actors are typecast and allocated cameos in which to show off their singing voices. She makes the point powerfully – then
sings. Everything, she tells us, is ‘political’”
Kate Kellaway, The Guardian (Mephisto [A Rhapsody])
“It hits a note when exploring the extent to which state-funded culture can genuinely critique those handling its purse strings and whether or not it’s possible for theatre to engender change when the same, left-inclined (and predominantly white) audiences are the ones coming to see shows. Anna-Maria Nabirye wryly parodies this with lasting effect at the start of the second act.”
What's On stage, Alex Wood (Mephisto [A Rhapsody])
~ Anna Dennis ~
Vocal improvisation duet with Ellie Westbrook and Anna Dennis from classical source material :
~ Bev Lee Harling ~
~ T D Van der Beek ~
~ Annika Theims ~
Examples of some of Annika’s costumes
~ Jess Mabel jones ~
Reviews on some of Jess’s work and performance:
“Jess Mabel Jones shines bright in a dark room. She glows.”
The Stage
“If Monty Python ran disability awareness training with a feminist twist, this would be it.”
Disability Arts Online
“What a privilege to be a part of this theatrical sorcery. It’s a leap that feels a lot like falling in love.”
The New York Times
“A show that takes disability out of the theatrical ghetto and presents it full frontal.”
The Guardian