Jess Headington, Lydia Revelos, and Be Wilson Photo by Dana Hunt

Fortunately, unlike Titus Andronicus, Taylor Mac's sequel is loaded with dark comedy, delightfully rhythmic segments of verse, and a lovely coda that provides a much-needed bit of redemptive grace, which might give it a greater chance of finding an audience. When produced with a cast as skilled as the trio assembled by Left Edge under the direction of Lulu Thompsxn, audiences will be treated to a dynamic work of art that lays bare the futility of cycles of revenge and retribution and the very real need for healing after the upheaval such retribution leaves in its wake.

As the play opens, Carol (Lydia Revelos) serves as a sort of prologue, preparing us for what is to come, while at the same time passing a sort of judgement on what has been. She struggles, throat slit and leaking blood, to tell us, "But once routine the thrills, to thrill, must grow. And if they don't, an outrage starts to show. So double up on savagery and war; to satisfy, you multiply the gore."

Enter a maid, Gary (Be Wilson), a clown who has been "promoted" to maid to assist in the cleanup after the final, bloody banquet scene in Titus Andronicus. An enormous pile of bodies is heaped at stage right (composed of fabric and batting, like so many sanguine, anatomically correct rag dolls), and a table at center stage serves as a workspace where Gary and Janice (Jess Headington), a proper maid who joins Gary to lead the efforts at tidying up, will perform their awful task.

Together the two work to clear away the bodies, after first siphoning them of their blood and feces. As they work, they bicker with each other, rarely complaining about the task they have been set, but simply diving into it knowing that to refuse the job would be to invite the murderous rage of the coup-plotters.

There's not a huge amount of story here, but we are so enraptured by the characters Mac has created that the nearly two-hour running time (with intermission) absolutely flies by. Gary is an ambitious sort, descended from a line of failed clowns, who finds his new, blood-soaked task to be a step up from juggling pigeons in the gutter and being pelted by poo from the dissatisfied Roman citizenry. With his foot "inside the lodge" (after being given the choice of mopping the gore or being hanged), he dreams of his next step up the ladder to being a proper fool, entertaining inside the court of the new emperor.

Be Wilson is a clown, and their training serves them incredibly well in this role. Their goggling eyes, their pratfalls, their ever-optimistic demeanor even in the face of such horror–not to mention the occasional honks from a horn they keep tucked away in their pocket and their hilarious jags of over-the-top weeping–all combine to wrap us snugly in their blanket of buffoonery. It's a bravura performance that deserves to be seen by far more than the two dozen or so patrons who joined me on opening night.

Wilson is more than ably assisted by both Headington and Revelos, who act as perfect foils to Wilson's madcap mayhem. Headington is never less than believable as a put-upon servant who nevertheless exhibits a sense of true self-worth. She is a woman who may yearn for greater things but knows they will never come without first attending to the jobs at hand. Her Janice is the sort of woman you'd want any time there is literal dirty work to be done.

As Carol, Lydia Revelos absolutely revels (see what I did there?) in her role. There's a moment in Act Two (Carol is mostly offstage during the first act), where she shrieks with such furor that the audience seemed to be pushed back in our seats by the force of the cry. All three, in fact, speak their lines with full power and clear enunciation (even with their slightly goofy Cockney accents) so that not a line is lost to mumbling or insufficient volume.

Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus is filled not only with gore (and worse) and the specter of the violence that preceded the rise of the (figurative) curtain, but wondrous clowning, gorgeous language, thrilling performances–and an ending that touches the heart and gives us the tiniest bit of hope that, despite all the violence, there may be some redemption. Not just for the characters, but for all of us who worry how we may survive the cycle of revenge and retribution being inflicted by those currently in power. As Gary says, hopefully, "We're putting an end to tragedy." Your biggest tragedy might be missing this marvelous production.

Left Edge Theatre's Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus runs through September 7, 2025, at The California Theatre of Santa Rosa, 528 7th Street, Santa Rosa CA. Performances are Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm, with matinees Saturdays and Sundays at 1:00pm. Tickets are $33. For tickets and information, please visit www.leftedgetheatre.com.