An Evening of Bull

An Evening of Bull

We open to groups of revellers arriving for an evening at a bar in Crete owned by the principled, but often misunderstood, Ariadne, daughter of King Minos. The set is minimal but effective, with a few tables, chairs, candles and cups to suggest the evening atmosphere of a cabaret bar.

No head mics are used during the performance, relying on each of the 12-strong cast to use their projection to be heard above the backing tracks and the murmurings of the members of the cast playing the bar customers, who softly chat out loud at their tables throughout, rather than mouthing words. This is largely successful, and on the evening we attended, the backing tracks were at a low enough volume to not overpower the cast.

There are lovely voices within the cast, particularly Ariadne (played by cover Freya Hoy on the day I attended) and Phaedra (Alba Hernandez), and when the cast join together in multi-part harmonies, they create some beautiful and powerful moments, which were the highlights of the show.

The cast keep a strong energy and focus throughout, and between quiet exposition of the story of young sacrifices being sent from Athens to face the Minotaur, via several narrators and some revealing discussions between Ariadne and Minos, there are upbeat scenes of traditional Cretan dancing in the bar as well as full-cast choreography later in the show. Props are also used effectively, with a light rope creating a Golden Thread in a charming scene navigating the Labyrinth that holds the Minotaur.

Woohoo moment: each time the full cast join together in multi-part harmony is delightful.