Victorious in battle, triumphant in war, chosen by the people to lead, Titus Andronicus has returned home after 10 long years defending the honor, the ethics, the very existence of the nation state she loves -- only to discover that the art of politics and the skirmishes within the halls of power are darker, crueler, and more violent than anything she has seen on the battlefield. Her nation changed beyond recognition, her leaders corrupt and venal, the rules she lives by mocked and broken, she devises a revenge for her new enemies far worse than anything she could have done at war.

From the notorious director of Bitch Macbeth and the OOBR-Award Winning Vegas-themed Antony and Cleopatra comes the first edition of DMTheatrics' new series, GRUDGE MATCH: DMT VS. SHAKESPEARE, in which the Bard's entire output will be restaged, rethought, realigned, wrecked, and regurgitated with fearless abandon for a new 21st century audience. Crammed with the high-energy, high-speed audiovisual mayhem and kinetic style that director Frank Cwiklik is known for, these shows are the perfect introduction to Shakespeare for anyone who hates Shakespeare, and just right tonic for theatergoers looking for something new, exciting, and, above all, entertaining.

This radical reinvisioning of one of Shakespeare's most controversial works boldly recasts the family Andronici as a matriarchal career military clan, with Titus as the grande dame of Roman warcraft and her sister Marta as the no-nonsense Tribune of the people. Reinvisioning this dark revenge melodrama as a conflict between matriarchs vieing for power and justice in a wartorn world, the show's themes of sacrifice, honor, vengeance, and cruelty are thrown into stark relief in a way never before quite envisioned.

This exciting, brash new production opens at the Brick October 9. 2009. Check this site occasionally for more updates and information closer to showtime.

Pictured at left from top clockwise: Kymberly Tuttle as the vengeful Titus Andronicus; Ann Breitbach as the doomed Lavinia; Sean Phillips as the cunning, unflappable Aaron. Photos by Frank Cwiklik. To download hi-res PR photos for this production, visit HERE.