Titus Andronicus is a fearsome spectacle. It contains a series of atrocities that are very hard to watch (it's certainly the Shakespeare play that inspires the most walkouts), and many commentators wonder why someone of his talent would write such a relentless and bloody play. I have mixed feelings about it myself, but I'm convinced that it was necessary in Shakespeare's development as a playwright. And that without Titus Andronicus we may not have had many of the later tragedies, including Hamlet, Lear, Othello and Macbeth. I'll explain tomorrow.