The blood on the stage and laughter in the air revealed that this Huron High School production of Shakespeare was not “Romeo and Juliet.” From Oct. 30 to Nov. 7, the Huron Players performed William Shakespeare’s “Titus Andronicus,” considered Shakespeare’s earliest, and worst, tragedy.

“Titus Andronicus” is Shakespeare’s only fictional play taking place during the Roman Empire. It features General Titus Andronicus, Emperor Saturninus and Tamora, Queen of the Goths, as well as their families who all are caught up in a vicious cycle of revenge, death and savagery. With ten major characters on the floor by the end of the fifth and final act, this play was certainly dramatic, yet oddly comedic. This counter intuitive nature is enhanced by the nonchalance of the characters performing gruesome violence, as well as scenes containing morbid or dry humor. For example, while two characters are carrying the body of someone they murdered, one of them cautions the other not to drop the body. The other says, “She’s dead, dumbass.”

Due to the odd nature of this play, you might be wondering why the Players picked it over many more popular and respected ones. “[The director, Jeffery Stringer] wanted a combination of something that would be both creepy, but also really entertaining and something that would just power through,” said Gavin Hopson, who held the role of Emperor Saturninus.

Watching the play was an interesting experience, as it was well-acted, brutal and subtly witty. Lighting and sound were used to build tension in preparation for violence, and then make the events seem to unfold faster and more suddenly.

One of the more difficult technical aspects was the fake blood involved in the play. Not many plays need credits for “Violence Guru and Blood Expert” as well as “Blood Provisions and Gore Research.” This blood led to some humorous bloopers at times, including actors slipping, and once blood bags released at the wrong time causing premature hemorrhaging, which the audience didn’t notice due to the actor’s careful positioning.

Other challenges for stage manager Claire Brinley were the timing of lights and sounds in relation to events on the stage. “The timing is the hardest part because we would have light cues or sound cues right as a person got stabbed,” Brinley said. “The sword went in them… (and) you had to call the queue a half second before it happened, so they had time to press the button, reactions and all that.”

Another technical challenge was swordplay: “While the weapons were not real they were still made of steel, so you can’t hit someone. That’s an issue so we have to work on, while being safe, making it look like this is actually happening,” Hopson said.

Although the Huron Players are no longer showing this play, they will begin to show their next production, “Guys and Dolls,” in February. So if you missed this bloody performance, then perhaps you should watch the next one.