Review: PERSEPHONE and ORPHEUS, Talking Gods Festival, Arrows & Traps

Ross McGregor’s Talking Gods is the latest series to get an online run, in conjunction with theatre company Arrows &Traps. They have adapted five Greek mythology stories and are releasing one episode each night from 5–9 April before being made available on demand. 

The first episode tells the story of Persephone, which takes on an interview-style performance in a story that has been bought into the 21st Century. We hear interviews from Persephone who is love struck with football bad-boy Apollo. She is social media savvy and is portrayed as a typical teenage girl.  Her mother Demeter, goddess of the harvest, tries to do her best for her daughter and Hestia, Demeter’s sister, is very much a tool for setting the scene and keeping the piece. 

In the original story, Persephone (kidnapped by Hades) later goes on to become the goddess of the Underworld. Her mother Demeter is furious by this and abandons her duties as goddess of the harvest causing the earth to wither, and trees to die. The solution being Persephone is to spend half the year in Olympia and half in the Underworld, thus creating the seasons we know now. This adaptation follows the same pattern but with the use of social media and the dangers of the world as we know it. 

Nicolle Smartt takes on the role of all three women and does a great job in using her acting to distinguish between the three women. Smartt is aided by clever lighting where each woman is lit in a colour to match them; Hestia in red, Demeter in green and persephone in Purple, which really enhances the piece. 

It is cleverly written and what is particularly nice is the dark backstory provided between the two sisters, which isn’t given in the original story. Smartt does an excellent job in portraying the bonds between the women in an interview format, which doesn’t lend itself to intimacy.

The second episode is titled Orpheus and focuses on the story of Orpheus played by Christopher Neels, and Eurydice played by Charlie Ryall. This piece takes on a musical style with songs such as ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Blinded by the Light’ and ‘Addicted to Love’ littered throughout the piece as Orpheus still charms through music, but here is a budding rock star. 

Providing the vocals for Orpheus’ songs is Sam Morgan-Grahame who is exceptional in everything that he sings within the piece. It is also a great turn by McGregor who performs the songs as if they are filming a music video, which provides great contrast to the intimate scenes between Orpheus and Eurydice. 

Both Ryall and Neels are exceptional in their characterisation and the relationship that they have with one another is delicately played in a truthful way. You really begin to root for them as a couple, even though you know the ending. 

Both pieces are wonderfully produced and written in a way that brings the mythology into present day situations, making them engaging pieces of theatre, but with enough of the original story remaining for it to be identifiable. The successive three stories are titled Pygmalion, Aphrodite and Icarus, and if they are as good as the first two episodes, we are in for a treat.

****’ Four and a half stars

Reviewed by: Emma Littler

For more information and to watch the already aired episodes, please click here.