Myth (subtitled but not used in the advertising "The Rise And Fall Of Orpheus") is a concept Musical and had a very brief run of semi-staged workshop try-out performances at London's The Other Palace in March 2018.
In a nutshell the story tells of Orpheus (Joel Harper-Jackson) and his journy into the underworld, but updated into a very modern and relatable setting. Orpheus is now a would-be rock star whilst his best friend is Jason (Richard Carson) and the band they play with are The Argonauts. They sign with Underworld Records, whose boss is called Hades (Matthew McKenna). Orpheus's girlfriend is Eurydice (Diana Vickers) and the whole musical is driven by the three 'Fates' who are the epitomy of a Greek Chorus.
To further enhance the modernistic nature of the show, as well as emphasise the rock concert vibe, the stage is set as a music gig with all the paraphenalia that one associates with such an event. In fact the lighting throughout would be far more at home at an arena concert than a theatre, but this only adds to the overall feel of the show, and also manages to create some rather eerie, almost other-wordly effects too when required.
To say that this production was only in its workshop stages was quite surprising since it seemed and felt much more advanced and mature than this, and director Arlene Phillips had obviously spent a lot of time in bringing about just the right nuances in the acting and staging to make it as believable and emotve as it was.
The singing, from all the cast was electric! That hard rock vibe and vibrato, the screech voice and the whole attitude of that style had been brought to play with expert precision. The three Fates (Eloise Davies, Amy Di Bartolomeo and Lauren Ellis-Steele) who seemingly never left the stage had some extremely close harmony singing whilst giving it the whole 'Blondie Rock Chick thing' was excellent. Whilst all the prinicipal's had equally stunning larynxes, love interest / girlfriend Eurydice (Diana Vickers) had the loveliest of solo's in Act 1, only to more or less disappear completely from the story in the second act, which was a shame.
All of the youthful angsts and problems of today seem to be brought to bear at some point in this production, but the most startling, and the two which drove the plot along where those of mental illness... we are told that Orpheus 'hears voices' etc, and this is the reaosn for him following the Fates ultimately to his own death and that of drugs. Both are very sensibly and sensitively handled and as the two other band members sit alone in act 2 disussing Orpheus's death, it is plain, to the point, spoken in a way which is eminently relatable, but not at all patronising or cliched.
This is a book musical, and as such has quite a lot of chunky dialogue. This didn't matter at all, as the dialogue was well written and plot enhancing without feeling that it was simply there in order to do just that. The songs were pertinent and again enhanced the narrative and didn't just sit there like a production number for no other reaosn than the producer thought it was time for a song!
The whole musical, despite it becoming dark and downbeat in the second act, was still kept mostly quite light and a little tongue-in-cheek, which I liked; and the issues raised within the show were very sensitively managed. Finishing with a full company power-anthem, and a standing ovation from the audience, this show deserves another outing when we are able to reopen our theatres again.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 6/5/20
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