Moira Buffini, a playwright, has described how performing in a youth theatre production of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus changed her life. The play, often considered one of Shakespeare's worst, is a bloody revenge-fest full of grotesque violence. In it, Titus returns from war with Tamora, Queen of the Goths, as his prisoner. She destroys his family, and in revenge, he kills her sons and serves them to her in a pie. The play ends with copious fake blood and carnage, and was a huge hit in Shakespeare's day, akin to a 16th-century slasher film.
A Lifeline in Difficult Times
Buffini, who has spent her life watching and writing plays, says none has affected her like Titus Andronicus. It was the first play she ever performed in outside of school, and she credits the transformative power of youth theatre. At the time, her family was going through difficult years, and she had been asked to leave her small-town Catholic school. Feeling low, getting into the National Youth Theatre felt like a lifeline, offering an escape from her circumstances and a first trip to London.
Finding Strength in a Ruthless Role
She joined a diverse company of young people from across the UK. Though they initially struggled with the language, their director insisted they could do it, and they threw themselves into the production. Buffini discovered the collaboration of rehearsing a play and experienced an exhilarating camaraderie. Being thrown in at the deep end made her unafraid of Shakespeare and gave her faith in herself.
Cast as Queen Tamora, she learned her lines on the tube. Tamora, a mature woman wronged and utterly ruthless, had badass, transgressive lines. Playing Tamora, Buffini says, made her stand strong. The production was staged in a school gym, and the cast went for the grotesquerie full-throttle, playing the horror of the murders as if it were A Nightmare on Elm Street.
A New Direction in Life
By the end of the production, something had shifted in Buffini. She saw a new direction in life, got her act together, applied to study drama, and moved to London. A bit of the barbarous Tamora had rubbed off on her. Her play Flarestorm is published by Faber on 22 October.
