Thespians Greece the Musical – no not THAT one – is running at the Wyvern Theatre in Swindon. It’s there until Saturday the 6th June.
Book your tickets here: https://trafalgartickets.com/wyvern-theatre-swindon/en-GB/event/musical/thespians-tickets
The Wyvern theatre is proud to present, from comedy masterminds Mischief, Thespians Greece the Musical. As their website says:
‘If you thought something funny happened on the way to the forum, wait until you hear what happened en route to the amphitheatre!
Greece is the word. Ancient Greece to be specific. It’s the year 534 BC and a dreadful drought has ravaged the entire country.
Thespis and his sister Poly live on the tiny island of Ikaria where nothing ever really happens. At least not until the entire population (all five of them) are forced to go to Athens to compete in a deadly prayer competition. All hope is lost until Thespis stumbles upon something that will change the world forever.’
Written by Jonathan Sayer (co-writer of The Play That Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong and The Comedy About A Bank. Don’t miss Mischief’s first musical about the power of walking a greek mile in someone else’s sandals.
Useful to know before you start – so it won’t be all Greek to you! Boom!
Thespian: The term thespian as in of or pertaining to tragedy or dramatic acting comes from the Greek Thespis. One of the lead characters in this production, Thespis was a 6th century poet often viewed as the father of Greek tragedy.
The Greek chorus – by tradition the Greek chorus numbers many – 12-50 players – maybe more. In Greek drama they’re a collective group of performers. It’s their role to comment on the action on the stage or offer insight into off-stage action. In this performance the chorus are two in number! They work jolly hard and are v funny.
Dionysius – played by Thespis (who is played by James Spence) is, according to Britannica, a nature god of fruitfulness and vegetation. In particular he’s known as a god of wine and ecstasy. He also goes by the name of Bacchus.
About the production
There are many layers to this production. It nods, (I thought) to different theatre styles. From farce to a pantomime villain and, of course, Greek tragedy. All with live music – and I loved how the musicians were part of the rather clever set.
Above all though, Thespians is a well-written, witty, fast-paced, funny, punny play-within-a play. One that elicits smiles, chuckles and belly laughs from start to finish.
I loved it. And I’m sure you will too. It’s a tremendous bit of escapism. And don’t we all need that?
The performers were all tremendous – I can’t single one out. Except to say that Adonis is not who/what you might imagine.
Book your tickets here: https://trafalgartickets.com/wyvern-theatre-swindon/en-GB/event/musical/thespians-tickets
The ankle socks
I’ve got to say something about the ankle socks. Some but not all the performers wore ankle socks. And, in the case of Adonis, knee socks. Though his def suit his character. But his hosiery aside, is the whole sock thing a riff on men wearing socks with sandals?
But then, Thespis wore one nude-toned sock. Has he lost the other one? We all know the odd sock situation. Or is he covering a tattoo on his foot?
SO MANY sock-related questions!
The socks are a mystery to me and if anyone has answered, please let me know.
SO many sock-related questions!