This was, to borrow an apparent football phrase, a game of two halves. It is a monumental effort, and the whole thing glides along relatively breezily. “Is that it?” I thought to myself as the cast, then the conductor, then the chorus, then the orchestra, took their bows. This isn’t a bad thing: as I have often said, it is better to leave the audience wanting more than to outlast one’s welcome.
The problem, for want of a better word, was that there was a lot going on anyway without the embellishments of members of the New English Ballet Theatre. In the first half, they ended up being more of a distraction than anything else. In a balcony scene, one of several during the evening, Apollo (Dan D’Souza) and Dafne (Lauren Lodge-Campbell) are, respectively, trying to woo and reject the other, and so one’s attention is naturally focused on those dynamics, including a manifestation of toxic masculinity millennia before the term entered common usage. I cannot offer much commentary on what the dancers were doing on the lower stage. Indeed, when I momentarily looked down, they had stopped moving but were still there. I did not and do not care as to why. Later, both characters sing, “War is raging in my heart, I can’t take it anymore”. Their venom was convincing, the dramatic tension palpable. However, the graceful movements of the dancers were nice to look at but utterly incongruent with the scene!
In the second half, the focus shifts to Hercules (countertenor James Hall, note-perfect throughout), personified by way of puppetry, which for someone more used to seeing plays and musicals, brought back memories of Avenue Q, or even, dare I say it, Punch and Judy shows. Again, I don’t really know precisely what the accompanying dancing was ultimately supposed to achieve. At least it was more integrated with the rest of the staging than it was before the interval.
The production made good use of the stage space, and sometimes the action extends beyond it. Occasionally, however, it was rather too ambitious, with some action taking place beneath the balcony overhang, quite a bizarre stage design choice. Most of the time, though, it was usefully inventive, with individual musicians moving around the space as well as the cast. The orchestra was visible to the audience and were frankly delightful.
After the crystal clarity of Apollo e Dafne, the rather looser The Choice of Hercules took a little getting used to. It essentially tells the story of how Hercules became Hercules: the nearest musical equivalent is, perhaps, Wicked telling the story of how Elphaba became Elphaba. A lot of elements were included in the show, and while it was enjoyable, I’m not sure the whole was greater than the sum of its parts on this occasion.
Review by Chris Omaweng
Tales of Apollo and Hercules explores the lives of the divine half-brothers in their quest for love, their battles with choice and anguish, and their acceptance of fate. The first half of the evening presents Apollo e Dafne, the Ancient Greek transformation myth wherein the beautiful nymph Dafne rejects the love of Apollo and is turned into a tree. The second half of the evening presents The Choice of Hercules, the Ancient Greek parable about Hercules who is offered a choice between Vice and Virtue – a life of pleasure or one of hardship and honour.
CAST
Apollo e Dafne
Apollo – Dan D’Souza
Dafne – Lauren Lodge-Campbell
The Choice of Hercules
Hercules – James Hall
Pleasure – Madison Nonoa
Virtue – Bethany Horak Hallet
Puppeteers – Tabitha Bingham and Ellie Peacock
New English Ballet Theatre
Jose Alves, Louis De Felice, Paul Meneu, Jessica Templeton, Maidie Widmer, Leila Wright
La Nuova Musica
Violin I – Jane Gordon (leader), Kirra Thomas, Jorge Jiminez
Violin II – Davina Clarke, Chloe Prendergast, Andrej Kapor
Viola – Eliata Bogdanova (27th/28th), Tom Kettle, Heather Birt (29th)
Cello – Alex Rolton, Kinga Gáborjáni
Double Bass – Judith Evans
Flute – Eva Caballero, Rachel Hellliwell
Oboe – Leo Duarte, Sarah Humphrys
Bassoon – Chris Rawley, Zoe Shevlin, Sally Jackson
Horn – Anneke Scott, Joe Walters
Trumpet – Paul Sharp, Matthew Wells
Theorbo – Joanatan Bougt
Organ/Harpsichord – David Gerrard
Chorus
Soprano – Sofia Kirwan-Baez, Daisy Livesey, Kirsty O’Neill, Amy Wood
Mezzo-soprano – Jennifer Statham, Sophie Timms
Counter Tenor – Hamish McLaren
Tenor – William Anderson, Monty Charles, Sebastian Maclaine
Bass – Peter Edge, Philip Tebb, William Townend
CREATIVES
Musical Director – David Bates
Director and puppetry direction – Thomas Guthrie
Choreographer – Valentino Zucchetti
Designer – Francisco Rodriguez-Weil
Lighting Director – Emma Chapman
Hair and Make-up – Tess Bevan
Assistant Director – Oscar Simms
Hercules puppet designed and made by Madarave
Masks designed and made by Ruth Paton
TALES OF APOLLO AND HERCULES
Shoreditch Town Hall
27 to 29 March 2025
Presented as Part of the London Handel Festival
