Review: ‘Medusa’ at The Rechabite
Medusa at The Rechabite
Thursday, August 3, 2023
7/10
Step into The Rechabite, or, more accurately in this case, step into ‘Atlantis’, a bar run by Poseidon (Tate Bennett) within Athena’s nightclub (Sally Clune), ‘The Temple’, for a glamorous evening of partying with the gods! ‘Leave your convictions at the door’, demands Poseidon, and have a tipple at ‘the only bar that will never run dry, but you can certainly try!’
Medusa: A Contemporary Myth in Three Parts brought to you by Feet First Collective, is a labour of love created between 2020 and 2023 across a series of creative developments. Touted as an ‘immersive adventure that will open your eyes’, Medusa acts as a modern-day reimagining of the origin story of the gorgon, Medusa (played by Lauren Beeton), situated firmly in our post #MeToo era, to experience from within the work, essentially.
Feet First Collective’s contemporary retelling invites audiences—or, the patrons of the nightclub—to (re)consider agency, or Medusa’s lack thereof, with regards to the sex act with Poseidon that resulted in Athena punishing the ‘beautiful maiden’ with the curse of snakes-for-hair and a gaze that turns all whom she locks eyes with into stone. No, this is not a spoiler—the Medusa of Greek mythology is cursed by Athena for ‘having sexual intercourse’ in Athena’s temple with Poseidon.
As this review is loathe to contain spoilers for exactly how this famous portion of the myth is portrayed within this particular version of it, what can be expressed is a hope that, in a tale so fraught with content warnings, there was an intimacy coordinator involved in the making of this work! The victim-blaming and gaslighting which occurs, both during the fallout post the event, and through clever flyer drops reminiscent of Nazi Germany propaganda, can be confronting to experience, particularly for an audience experiencing the work from within the work. That being said, the surprising trajectory this show ends up following, through the sympathetic nature of the characters of Poseidon's 'pet princess' Andromeda (Ella Jones), and Perseus (Samuel Addison), might relieve this somewhat.
In a production team credit list that’s as long as your arm, big props goes to costume designer Charlotte Wilson. The actors all looked like a million bucks in their get-ups, under the on-point ‘club vibes’ lighting design by Christian Lovelady. Important in a piece such as this where performers are vulnerable as they are, mostly performing from within the audience, and needing to be able to stay in character and improvise in response to the more gutsy audience members who try to interact with them. We were grabbed by Athena at one point, invited into her ‘VIP area’ on the top level of The Rechabite, and her sashaying golden cloak was absolutely mesmerising as we followed her upstairs.
The impressive aerial performances were the highlight of the evening, with Clune as Athena and Addison as Perseus both performing with jaw-dropping strength and grace on their aerial silks. Bravo to aerial trainer and dramaturg Aline Chapet-Batlle! A steamy dance duo between Tate as Poseidon and Beeton as Medusa was also very enjoyable to behold, with most enjoyable aspects of this performance—these movement-based numbers—all occurring on the actual stage of The Rechabite Hall.
While it was certainly pleasant to have agency as an audience member with regards to where exactly one wished to experience the work from at any given time, simply being able to move around, sit on set pieces, or step into Medusa’s dressing room, along with the occasional interaction with a performer, does not make this work immersive theatre. The tale still follows a narrative with beats which performers needed to hit at certain moments, and no action from an audience member changes the trajectory of events at all. It very much felt like watching a play from within the play. Site-specific, certainly, with The Rechabite offering the perfect playground for an endeavour such as this, and amendable to its audience exploring the space and everything in it at will as with promenade theatre—but not immersive.
Nevertheless! It is heartening to see companies experimenting with live performance and keeping audiences on their toes, while exploring content with important messages, mostly with empathy. The performers were all excellent, the story was unpredictable, and fun was had by all who entered 'The Temple!' Well, except for the titular character, probably.
MELISSA KRUGER
