While the Globe to Globe Festival had been conceived as Shakespeare in many languages, its role and timing in the 2012 London Olympics prompted audiences and companies to assess a production's efficacy as representation of the nation of native speakers. Of the thirty-seven productions in the Festival, Titus Andronicus was one of the few that could not be regarded as a national performance, because it came from Hong Kong and was performed in Cantonese. In contrast, a few days earlier, the National Theatre of China had played Richard III in Mandarin, and the company's representation of China had surfaced the more strongly during the sense of crisis that the actors performed under, owing to their elaborate set and costumes failing to arrive. In a coincidence that might be read as a sequel to their enforced bare-bones style, the actors of Titus Andronicus (titled simply Titus in Cantonese) came on dressed in basic white, grey or black T-shirts and leggings. They performed Scene 1 sitting on a long row of chairs at the edge of the stage facing the audience, suggesting a rehearsal of their individual parts. Only after this scene did they put on the costumes that were placed folded in front of each chair, to embody their roles in a more naturalistic interaction. These costumes were formal, Western-style coats and dresses that indicated character types, in the same monochromatic shades. The director, Tang Shu-wing, states that this monochromy was intended to make each group of characters symbolic: ‘white for royalty, black for darkness [the Goths], and grey for Titus’ family who are in between – they have something evil, but also something pure’. The actors of Richard III had been forced by shipping delays to perform without the ornate visual support that the company had designed as a display of Chinese cultural heritage, and to rely fully on the acting skills that, superb as they are, conventionally depend on costume to articulate them.