Hadestown

Greeted by quite a packed and excited foyer and given my usual warm welcome by Kiera Leach and her front of house team, I took my place in the auditorium and looked forward to a great evenings entertainment. I was not to be disappointed.

Hadestown is, in effect, a modernised and updated on the story of Orpheus and Eurydice and was set in a dirty and downtrodden underworld controlled by the evil Hades. The set, very atmospherically lit by Livewire theatrical Consultants, was laid out in front of us as we arrived, mostly scaffold and steel deck in a horseshoe layout to the right, left and rear with a circular plinth in the centre and five graffiti laden oil drums at various places. It didn't leave the cast much room for movement but the choreography by Summer Hughes and Jack Fenner was well constructed and very effective. They used the minimal space to full effect. 

The cast arrived in dribs and drabs to add to the build up and we got underway with George Singleton as Hermes setting the story and fully engaging the audience brilliantly. As the narrator he worked very hard and was confident in his delivery. The principles and chorus had been well rehearsed and this shone through, they all knew where they were supposed to be and when and all in synch (and for an opening night this was impressive stuff). The diction was clear and precise. All the words, mostly sung, were heard well and the story flowed well and at a pace. They were all (give or take) on the stage for all the time, save for costume changes) and were fully engaged all of the time. A testament to the direction team of Mike Mullen and Liz Segal. They really looked as if they were enjoying it and it came over well into a fully involved and excitable audience. The principal line up of Ronnie Ellis as Orpheus and Abigail Fairman as Eurydice gave strong clear performances and worked (believably) well together, and were very well backed up by Matt Harris as Hades and Eva Perraton as Persephone (and the three fates, Immy Perrin, Rosie Drennan and Asia Kokorina) All performances were confident and clear. This is not to detract from the chorus who had been so well drilled that the performance flew by. A fantastic example of a show being well rehearsed. The routines proved this very well.

The band, eight members, were of a very high quality and the sound balance between them and the cast was spot on, Richard Wyeth and Mark Bourne had the levels just right. They were an integral part of the overall performance, being on stage underneath the rear steel decking, which caused a great soundbox effect and each of the instrumentalists were on top form, especially Ed March on his trombone, a really good use of this fantastic brass instrument, often found wandering around the stage and interacting with the cast without overtaking their delivery.. 

Overall a very well delivered production full of life and clarity. Well done to CPYT, another brilliant evening.

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