Director Bartlett Sher, having established a reputation in New York with his stagings of Waste and Shakespeare's Cymbeline, returns to his artistic home at Seattle's Intiman Theatre with another lesser staged work by the Bard, Titus Andronicus. The bloody revenge drama plays March 29-April 27 with an opening April 3.

When victorious general Titus Andronicus returns to Rome with Tamora, Queen of the Goths and her sons as his prisoners, he does as tradition bids him — he sacrifices one of her children to the gods. This act, coupled with Andronicus' refusal to listen to the will of the people, sets in motion plots of revenge and double revenge, resulting in rape, murder and cannibalism. Titus Andronicus was made into a 1999 film directed by Julie Taymor with Anthony Hopkins in the title role.

Steve Tague stars as Andronicus at the Intiman with Kathleen Pirkl Tague as his rival in vengence, Tamora. Also in the cast are Laurence Ballard (Intiman's The Dying Gaul, The Servant of Two Masters) as Marcus Andronicus, Mark Chamberlin as Saturninus, Peter Cook as Bassianus, Kirstin Flanders (The Lady from the Sea) and Allen Gilmore as Aaron, the Moor.

Tickets are $10-$42. The Intiman Theatre is located in the Seattle Center at 201 Mercer St. For reservation information, call (206) 269 1900. The Intiman Theatre is on the web at http://www.intiman.org.

— By Christine Ehren