Unmythable by Temple Theatre (UK)
Downstage Theatre, until March 7
This Temple Theatre (UK) production of Unmythable does to Greek mythology what The Reduced Shakespeare Company has done to Shakespeare and to The Bible.
Apart from the great literature, they have in common a shoe-string budget. In Unmythable’s case the budget runs to three wooden crates and a few costumes, including enormous rainbow coloured bow ties.
Three comic actors have been let loose on Greek mythology and they take us on a whirlwind tiki tour snapping the most famous tourist sites through a cracked lens. The result is often hilarious, always hugely enjoyable.
Our tour guide for this Mediterranean cruise aboard the Argo is Jason who is, of course, on his quest for the Golden Fleece in the land of Colchis.
His eager aides, Beta and Gamma, assist him in many heroic deeds such as coping with the Cyclops, a fiery dragon, a broke King Midas, a trip to Hades, being cooped up inside the Trojan Horse, as well as one of them imitating Marlon Brando. As tourists we have the job of providing vocal support for our intrepid heroes.
The show is confident enough to suddenly turn serious for a short scene when one of the heroes relates his feelings about seeing his friends being eaten by a Cyclops. In retrospect this seems misplaced when a few minutes later we are watching a very brief comic mime of a father piecing together his dead son’s body parts after a battle.
The three actors perform with incredible energy, switching roles and singing songs from Sondheim to the Blues and creating marvellous dead-pan physical and verbal comedy (“Ajax” is needed for cleaning out the Augean stables). You may have deduced from the punning title, it’s not exactly sophisticated comedy.
Surprisingly, the show’s programme fails to identify either the three actors, or the people who designed the simple but highly effective sound and lighting effects. Artists and their audiences deserve better.
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