Romance, hatred, power struggles and war: perhaps your
typical weekday happenings at Boris Johnson’s City Hall or the beloved
Southwark Council towers. But, add a
touch of torture, incest, slavery, divinity and magic, and the night is taken
to a deliciously darker level: the award-winning theatre company God and
Monsters manage to do just this.
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| City Hall, More London, SE1 |
Following last summer’s
successful run of Oedipus and Antigone at The Scoop, Bermondsey’s sunken amphitheatre,
the resident company presents the Ring Cycle plays, adapted skilfully by Phil
Willmott and Lis Kuma from Richard Wagner’s celebrated 1874 opera libretto. The story of a gold ring, which brings its
wearer power and wealth, and the ensuing struggle over its ownership, is told over
four separate plays. With each lasting
around 45 minutes, and generous intervals between each one, they can be viewed
in one sitting or over a series of evenings - for free!
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| Image © The Scoop More London |
Wotan, king of the gods, is in a
bind: pay the giants for building his new fortress Valhalla, or risk his
sister-in-law Freia being taken captive, and with her the magic apples that
prevent the gods from ageing. Phil Willmott plays a desperate and degenerate
Wotan, obsessed by matters of state and the perceptions of the mortals on
earth. Consumed by a desire to hang on
to power at all costs, he will say or do anything. Faced with the realisation that mortals ‘no
longer respect gods’ and that the ‘old ways are dying’, his goddess wife Frika,
a Viking spin-doctor with morals played captivatingly by Claire Jeater, persuades him to ‘uphold
the sanctity and institution of marriage’, with unexpectedly chilling consequences.
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| Ominous clouds loom over the Viking gods at the Scoop, More London |
Set against the physical backdrop of London’s home of
government on one side, and today’s widely held distrust of politicians and all
things political on the other, the plays force us to look at our own moral
codes as well as those of our once respected leaders.
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| Mime, Alberich's brother, played touchingly by Terence Frisch © 2014 Huskyfan @Swim1965 (Twitter) |
That said, superb direction by Phil Willmott
and Racky Plews manages to inject sufficient humour and yes, comedy, to lighten this three hour plus long production. Furthermore, the acting is well-served by subtly effective incidental music, and visually
delectable costume and set design.
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| © 2014 @SarahD1289 (Twitter) |
In the end, the curse of the ring exposes the goodies and
baddies in the heavens. Perhaps the real
question is: is it only politicians that are good or evil here on earth?
More information:
*NOTE: Part 2 contains some adult themes. Parts 3 and 4 are not suitable for young children.
The Ring Cycle Plays: A Tale of Gods and Monsters run from 6th - 31st August, every Wednesday to Sunday starting at 6pm
*NOTE: Part 2 contains some adult themes. Parts 3 and 4 are not suitable for young children.
Gods and Monsters Theatre
The Scoop, More London Festival
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