Review: Unmythable, Zoo (Venue 124)

A FUN show for all the family, Unmythable brings the classical Greek myths to life with wit, verve and song. Dispensing olives as you enter the venue, a cast of three relates multiple tales with wonderful economy of storytelling and championing of heroism. One particular scene, in which Paul O’Mahony and Troels Hagen Findsen rapidly alternate in their portrayal of a hasty Zeus, a disgusting Hades, a fuming Demeter and a naïve Persephone, is a joy to behold.

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Along with Richard Darbourne, who mutely simmers as an agitated warrior while his comrades babble away behind him in the Trojan horse, Temple Theatre’s production coerces the audience into the drama from the start, recruiting us into the Argonauts, “the greatest mass of men ever assembled!”

From this main thread, they branch out into the tales of individual heroes and gods, their dramatic energy appealing to youngsters, even as the more dubious aspects of Oedipus’s fame or Zeus acquiring animal form to seduce his conquests are slyly referenced with a nod and a wink. The latter inspires just one of the winning songs from Barbershopera’s Rob Castell, a rap from Zeus about his shape-shifting which Darbourne keeps the right side of cheesy.

Until 27 August. Today 1:45pm.