Keble O’Reilly Theatre, Wednesday 18th November – Saturday 21st November

“a bold and raw performance which leaves the audience glued to their seats, intrigued, impressed and engrossed.” Review by Francesca Wade ★★★★★

“Torso after torso of taut contorting and undulating sinew and muscle are mesmerising.” Review by Eidin Crowdy ★★★★★

Paradise Lost ★★★★★

Review by Francesca Wade

To stage an adaptation of Milton’s epic, one of the most influential, difficult and iconographic works of literature in the world, is certainly an ambitious and demanding task, and one which this production carries off with aplomb. The Keble O’Reilly Theatre is transformed into the whole universe, encompassing Earth, Heaven and Hell, in a bold and raw performance which leaves the audience glued to their seats, intrigued, impressed and engrossed.

Paradise Lost tells the tale of Satan, cast into Hell by God, who decides to poison the newly-created Earth and destroy the humans currently living an idyllic life in Paradise. We meet Adam and Eve and watch powerless in the face of inevitable consequences as Satan swiftly tempts Eve to eat the apple and condemn the human race, bringing Sin and Death to Earth and witnessing the future evils for which they are responsible. The story is narrated by Christ, while angels Raphael and Gabriel watch on and take centre stage at the end to deliver God’s judgement.

The production is minimalist, with the stage only adorned by some meaningful apples and two ladders, which could represent the different levels of Earth, Heaven and Hell, and which are used effectively, particularly when Satan leaps down on his way to destruction. Costumes are also minimalist, with the ensemble dressed scantily in ripped black attire and wearing blindfolds, perhaps symbolic of Eve’s lack of foresight. This adds great weight to the moment when Adam and Eve, realising and desperately repenting their sin, are forced to dress themselves in a painfully drawn out scene, about to be cast out of Eden, and the juxtaposition between this moment and their earlier happiness is very poignant.

The production claims to fuse “physical theatre and elegant verse”, and the physical element is executed spectacularly, particularly in a sequence involving leapfrog, somersaults and excellently choreographed fighting. There is a particularly harrowing scene where Sin (Sophie Duker) is raped by her son Death (Richard Williams), and the low murmuring of the creatures in Hell creates an extremely intense atmosphere. Throughout music is used effectively to convey mood, moving from the uneasy to the dramatically dissonant and ending with the almost funereal.

Joe Eyre is extremely powerful as Satan, beguiling towards Eve and tormented in private. James Corrigan and Isabel Drury are an excellent Adam and Eve, although perhaps a limitation of the adaptation is that Adam’s character has so little time to develop from being strong and cautious to suddenly feeling compelled to eat the fruit. An interesting touch is Eve’s recounting of her dream about eating the apple, where her actions are mirrored by Sin, giving a dark hint of what is to come.

This is an immensely powerful production with acting of a very high standard across the board. Although it took a little time to adapt to the archaic language and get control of the plot, the rewards of perseverance were great. Unlike the tree in the Garden of Eden, this production seems set to bear the fruit of success.

Paradise Lost ★★★★★

Review by Eidin Crowdy

Milton’s original intention for Paradise Lost was a play, a fact ETB Productions fully exploits in this intense and challenging production of Ben Power’s adaptation of the epic. The tale that seems more familiar to us than most is dragged by the scruff of the neck into the twenty-first century whilst retaining the decorum of Milton’s elegant verse. Harnessing the drama of the tale and language, the production is the Fall as we have never seen it before.

The mere physicality of the play makes the audience fully aware what the story is about: man. Stripping him to his physical and emotional nakedness, the stage’s bareness is fitting. The almost industrial feel lends a brutality to the events that occur within it. Props are minimal, although ladders are particularly effective; any character ascending one must inevitably fall from it. Yet it is the human body which is the central prop. Chelsea Walker’s direction leads a cast which make full use of their bodies as representative tools.

Torso after torso of taut contorting and undulating sinew and muscle are mesmerising. Fallen angels twist in anguish, an image supported by the excellent sound and lighting design. Adam and Eve’s soft lighting and music are complemented by the introduction of colour onto the stage and their incessant touching and soft languor.

The fallen audience cannot, however attractive James Corrigan and Izzy Drury’s entwined headiness may be, fail to be drawn to the passions and vulnerability these actors manage post-Fall. Corrigan especially comes to the fore as Adam breaks out of his shell of ignorance.

Satan and his fallen angels have the most charismatic and engulfing performances. The intensely physical choices of the production suit these actors perfectly, whose energy and commitment ensures that their movements are effective rather than ridiculous. From Death’s (Richard Williams) Gollum-like squatting and grotesque sexual gropings, to Joe Eyre’s temptation of Eve as the serpent, this production seduces the audience with the power of the dark side.

It is Joe Eyre’s Satan and Roland Singer-Kingsmith’s Christ that emerge from this all-round strong cast as especially mesmerising. The narrating, omnipresent Christ prevails with elegance and is a reassuring influence, whereas Satan beguiles with his winning combination of rhetoric, strength, and humanity. Both actors provide a stunning soliloquy each, Satan addressing the sun and lamenting his pain, and Christ acknowledging his sacrifice. The tenderness of this realisation and determination is touching and would have been an ideal ending. However, a gratuitously physical crucifixion as the concluding image overruled and corrupted the otherwise respectful use of Milton’s poetry which, in Singer-Kingsmith’s able hands, perfectly concluded the tale.

The age-old story of man’s beginnings is brought to a physical peak. Despite the disappointing finale, no veneer stands between the modern audience and Milton’s epic any longer; the embedded drama of the poetry is heightened by generally well chosen movement and exceptional ensemble work. To experience a classic in an utterly new light, this production is an excellent choice.