London 08 - The Bridewell Theatre - 21 Jan to 2 Feb 08 - 19.30 (21.40)

The first 15 minutes of Dionysus Unbound are viewed standing in a circle initially surrounding a woman lying on the floor encircled by lit candles and no other lighting. The play opens with the character of Cleopatra calling on Alexander, her brother to come back to her. Writhing, crouched on the ground, she seems to be evoking him like a god from beneath her. This becomes one of the many themes in the play; the evocation of gods, spirits and loved ones and the cursing and blessing of enemies and allies. Her summoning is also repeated by others like a leitmotif that pops up throughout the play.

This is the second of a trilogy of plays concerning the character King Philip II's rebellious son Alexander. It ultimately revolves around the absence but felt threat or comfort of his return. Various other themes emerge; most notably that of incest. The relationships of the main characters seem to hinge on internal battles between jealousy and love. The character of Alexander only begins to truly enter the play towards the end, but he makes fleeting appearances throughout that indicate the threat of his youth and vigour and the underlying, somewhat disturbing, nature of his power over the characters.

The challenge of historical dramas tends to be how to squeeze rich language and quite frankly so many characters and concepts into a limited time frame and space. While the latter is well addressed, problems arise in the cramming of such wordy dialogue and complicated plot. It seems to require a certain degree of prior knowledge to be able to follow adequately. At times some of the language seems to get lost in the urgency of the acting and the sheer number of concepts addressed leaves little time for character development.

The play's strength lies more in its combination of music, physical acting and choreography. The Court Musician, played by George Tooulis, plays an instrument called the bouzouki, which brings a much needed dimension to certain scenes. The first appearance of the King Philip II for example, sees the Musician playing a light-hearted traditional sounding tune which makes the King come across as a jovial yet powerful father figure. As soon as the music stops however, the character becomes darker, less sympathetic.

This is also reflected in the costume design. Bright colours worn by Olympias, Alexander's mother and alleged lover, match her passionate and seductive character. Vibrant red and green dresses provide a stark contrast to the dark, simple set and sombre, grey King Philip. A memorable scene involves the character of Olympias partly seducing, partly inducing her brother Epiros to return to her cult of her god Dionysus aligning himself with her against Philip and his new wife. It opens with a kind of ritualistic choreographed battle dance and ends with Epiros and Olympias dancing around each other with a large phallus Olympias has strapped around Epiros' waist.

The production requires at least a prior reading of the programme, (if not prior knowledge of the story), but is original and imaginative in its use of space, movement and music to evoke themes and ideas.

Cast Credits (alpha order): Myriam Acharki - Olympias. Madeline Appiah - Euryduce/Fighter/Molossian/Rebel. Yasmin Bobdalbhi - Cleopatra/Molossian. Glen Fox - Alexander/A Messenger/Molossian. Benedict Hopper - Attalos/Epiros/. John Iannou - Neoptolemos/Demaratos/Molossian/Rebel. Roland John-Léopodie - Arrhidaios/Molossian. David Keller - Philip II/Regent. George Tooulis - Court Musician/Molossian/Rebel.

Company Credits: Director - Peter Stürm. Lighting Design - Cis O'Boyle Sound Design - Steve Rafter. Prop Design - Kuba Wronski. Prop Support - Sarah Morgan. Costume Design - Natasa Stamatari. Movement - Toby Gillingham. Light & Sound Operator - Tracky Crombie. Production Manager - Bernd Fauler. Producer - Caroline Staunton. Company - Alexander Projekt2

(c) Natalie Pilato 2008

Reviewed Saturday 26 January 2008 / 15:00 matinee / Bridewell Theatre

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008