Off to the Lowry again, which seems to fast be becoming my
second home these days (I don’t even need the satnav to get through Stretford
any more!) to accompany my friend Sharon and her two daughters to a play called
Unmythable from Temple Theatre, which billed itself as ‘a whistle stop tour
through the greatest Greek myths ever told’. Now I’m not really up on my Greek
myths, never really paid much attention during classical studies at school, and
in the restaurant before the meal it became clear that the 9 year old knew much
more about Greek Mythology than I do, so I did wonder whether most of it would
be lost on me! Also, the show was billed as family friendly, but scheduled in
an evening slot, so we were unsure how varied the audience would be, but there
did seem to be quite a good mix in the almost capacity audience in the studio,
which was a good sign.
Well, if classical studies had been this enjoyable at school
I might actually have retained more information. The show recruits an audience
of ‘heroes’, collectively known as the Argonauts, and takes us off an adventure
to slay a dragon and get a golden fleece, whilst on the way romping through a
number of myths at a cracking pace.
The small cast of three, Troels Hagen Findsen, Paul O’Mahony
and Will Pinchin, portray a number of characters with ease, giving an energetic
performance combining physical theatre, songs, some audience participation and
plenty of humour for all ages. I found myself cheering along with the rest of
the Argonauts, especially when the dove was sent forth through the rocks. Our
young charges seemed a little unsure at the start, but were soon both laughing
and participating, and even seemed gripped by the clever storytelling in the
odd moments when the pace dropped (although I personally thought Zeus should
have interrupted Orpheus slightly sooner). There was an excellent scene where
two cast members played out Persephone’s kidnap by Hades, switching cleverly between
the four characters with hilarious effect.
The show turned out to be a hugely enjoyable romp through
the classics, and I actually left knowing quite a bit more than when I arrived.
The only complaint from our young guests being that it should have been longer
and they missed out a few gods (apparently they are very taken with Hercules, I
blame Disney).
I asked the girls for some quotes to put in my blog so I’ll
leave the last words to them.
“Funniest play I have ever seen” – Georgina, 9
“The best bit was….. all the bits” – Rhianna, 6
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