Photo: (top, l to r) Trevor Bates, Brian Bradford, Tarina Bradshaw, Jemima Charles, Charles Glenn and LaKecia Harris (middle, l to r), Gregory D. Hicks, Benjamin T. Jenkins, Christopher Wayland Jones, Colin Jones, Morgan Lavenstein and James Lewis (bottom, l to r), Gabrielle Lott-Rogers, Danyelle Monson, Andrew Neftalí Perez, Michaela Petro, Shane Richlen and Christopher Vizurraga.

Haven has announced casting for its production of William Shakespeare’s bloody “Titus Andronicus,” which it says will center “on the voices of marginalized people too often excluded from classical theater performance.”

Directed by Artistic Director Ian Damont Martin, the cast includes Trevor Bates (Demetrius), Brian Bradford (Mutius/Young Lucius), Tarina Bradshaw (Lavinia), Jemima Charles (Ensemble), Charles Glenn (Clown), LaKecia Harris (Bassianus), Gregory D. Hicks (Lucius), Benjamin T. Jenkins (Quintus), Christopher Wayland Jones (Saturninus), Colin Jones (Titus), Morgan Lavenstein (Chiron), James Lewis (Martius), Gabrielle Lott-Rogers (Marcus), Danyelle Monson (Nurse), Andrew Neftalí Perez (Aaron), Michaela Petro (Tamora), Shane Richlen (Alarbus) and Christopher Vizurraga (Ensemble).

The production team includes Sydney Lynne Thomas (scenic design), Lily Walls (costume design), Adrienne Johnson (lighting design), Sarah Espinoza (sound design), Emily Boyd (props design), R&D Choreography (violence design), Micah Figueroa (intimacy design), Leon Evans (movement design), NIkolaj Sorensen (production manager), Emily Marrazzo (stage manager) and Angela Matera (assistant stage manager).

“It means something in today’s U.S./Western context to bring these often marginalized identities to the center of this work, considering its (and our) rich history of excluding and subjugating people of color,” said Ian Damont Martin. “When a Black person embodies a text and world wherein characters say exactly what they think and feel, ultimately in an effort to harvest empathy and understanding – it is a ripe and refreshing piece of catharsis. And to do that with this canonized text and form (aka a dead white guy’s poetry that he mostly appropriated), THAT feels particularly subversive. We’re recasting narrative and reimagining canon. And personally, in my work, I’m deep in this moment of needing to figure out my relationship to the anxiety of trauma. The crossroads of justice and politics, nationhood and class, race and family – that’s a centuries-old six corner intersection with no traffic lights that I am (and we are) still very much trying to navigate and survive.”

TITUS ANDRONICUS will play February 13 – March 14, 2020 on The Den Theatre’s Heath Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. Tickets go on sale Monday, December 2 at havenchi.org.