June 21, 2006
Ben Power’s adaptation of the Milton epic is stupendous. Director Rupert Gould has collected, in The Oxford Stage Company, a fantastically talented team of actors, technical staff and an inspired designer in Ben Stones. From the choreography of Liam Steel and Georgina Lamb, via the music and sound of Adam Cork to the lighting of Mark Jonathan this is a theatrical tour de force.
Satan, cast out of heaven along with his rebellious cohorts, rallies his troops and determines to make the best of a bad lot. Revenge is sought through the subversion and degradation of Man – God’s newest created being. The medium is an apple; the rest is history if you are a fundamentalist, metaphor for the rest of us.
We know the story, but that does not make it any less gripping. True to the, necessarily, abridged poetry Satan is very much the hero of the first half of the story. He finds the strength to inspire his fellow former angels and sets out to undertake the burden of bringing about Man’s fall alone – nicely mirroring the sacrifice of Christ in their redemption. He overcomes the Sin and Death at the gates of Hell to escape the inferno; traverses Limbo and Chaos to reach the temporal realm and successfully gulls Raphael to reach Earth. Along the way we learn of his regrets and internal turmoil, and of his redoubled desire to wreak revenge.
The second half plays heavily on the innocence and fall of Man. Made plain is the choice available to angel and human alike in following God’s word. Inherent in this is the possibility of disobeying – an idea that had not previously occurred to Adam – and the problems that go with free will. Satan in this part becomes increasingly deformed – both physically and spiritually. His ‘logical’ refutation of the ban on eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is masterful and Eve, once subverted, quickly includes Adam in Original Sin.
The story was beautifully told using a fantastic array of physical theatre and character acting; backed up and enhanced by superbly realised design elements: music, lighting, costume, sound and dance. The cast were fabulous: Jasper Britton a scarily believable Satan; Christian Bradley and Vinette Robinson a touching Adam and Eve as well as evil in their cameos as Moloch and Belial respectively. Caroline Faber showed great range from a thoroughly wanton Sin to the well-intentioned Raphael, and Stephen Fewell was a fiendish Beelzebub, a horrendous Death and a noble Gabriel. Apart from the ensemble – but very much a part of the story – was Charles Aitken as a hoody-wearing narrator who metamorphosed into Christ as saviour for the dénouement. This really is an excellent piece of theatre in all aspects and I urge you to see it if tickets are still available.
Satan, cast out of heaven along with his rebellious cohorts, rallies his troops and determines to make the best of a bad lot. Revenge is sought through the subversion and degradation of Man – God’s newest created being. The medium is an apple; the rest is history if you are a fundamentalist, metaphor for the rest of us.
We know the story, but that does not make it any less gripping. True to the, necessarily, abridged poetry Satan is very much the hero of the first half of the story. He finds the strength to inspire his fellow former angels and sets out to undertake the burden of bringing about Man’s fall alone – nicely mirroring the sacrifice of Christ in their redemption. He overcomes the Sin and Death at the gates of Hell to escape the inferno; traverses Limbo and Chaos to reach the temporal realm and successfully gulls Raphael to reach Earth. Along the way we learn of his regrets and internal turmoil, and of his redoubled desire to wreak revenge.
The second half plays heavily on the innocence and fall of Man. Made plain is the choice available to angel and human alike in following God’s word. Inherent in this is the possibility of disobeying – an idea that had not previously occurred to Adam – and the problems that go with free will. Satan in this part becomes increasingly deformed – both physically and spiritually. His ‘logical’ refutation of the ban on eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is masterful and Eve, once subverted, quickly includes Adam in Original Sin.
The story was beautifully told using a fantastic array of physical theatre and character acting; backed up and enhanced by superbly realised design elements: music, lighting, costume, sound and dance. The cast were fabulous: Jasper Britton a scarily believable Satan; Christian Bradley and Vinette Robinson a touching Adam and Eve as well as evil in their cameos as Moloch and Belial respectively. Caroline Faber showed great range from a thoroughly wanton Sin to the well-intentioned Raphael, and Stephen Fewell was a fiendish Beelzebub, a horrendous Death and a noble Gabriel. Apart from the ensemble – but very much a part of the story – was Charles Aitken as a hoody-wearing narrator who metamorphosed into Christ as saviour for the dénouement. This really is an excellent piece of theatre in all aspects and I urge you to see it if tickets are still available.