ORPHEUS DISMEMBERED - AT THE JUNCTION

If a myth is as good as a mile, then Ben Haggarty’s show is as long as a marathon. The much-lauded storyteller brought his Greek Myth show to a packed house at The Junction. ‘Orpheus Dismembered’. Magical. I can’t think of any other word to describe two hours of riveting, edge-of-seat drama. He was accompanied by Jonah Brody who played a variety of instruments to create a mellifluous soundscape, an ethereal underscore to Haggarty’s mesmeric narrative.

The story begins with the creation of the world and ended with the tragedy of King Orpheus who lost everything by looking back. His is a fascinating canter through the world of Greek mythology but while some of the stories may be familiar, the performer brings a totally fresh edge and a thrilling theatricality to the world of the gods and their hapless humans. Haggarty began by humorously warning his audience that they were about to hear about rape, incest, murder and cannibalism. The classics are not for snowflakes.

His dynamic style of storytelling reminds me so much of the late lamented Mike Maran. There is the avuncular low-key tale telling suddenly bursting into dance, music and high-octane delivery. There is the use of instruments as musical punctuation marks and Haggarty thinks nothing of breaking the fourth wall to provide some context to the often brutal going on among the randy deities. His script has a kind of hypnotic poetry to it; the celebration of words, rhythmic repetition and the variation of a voice unafraid to mine a rich seam of melodrama.

If you had a pin, you would hear it drop under the Junction seats such was the grip Ben Haggarty had over his audience. This was one of the most brilliant two hours of theatre and that is no myth.