Review: Hercules at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre

Aug 2 2010 by Jo Henwood, Chester Chronicle

HERCULES/ Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Chester

REVIEW/by Jo Henwood

THIRTEEN actors telling twelve tales in less than two hours might seem like a Herculean task but the cast of Grosvenor Park Open Theatre company make light work of it.

Hercules, an interpretation of the story of the Greek legend and his twelve labours, is a new play by Helen Eastman, commissioned especially for the Chester project.

The play is a modern romp through the tortuous tasks which include skinning a lion, cleaning filthy stables, stealing some golden apples and capturing a three-headed dog.

David Caves, who is almost a head taller than many of his fellow actors, is a fitting Hercules, who works out at the gym, competes in triathlons and knows more about his BMI (body mass index) than is necessary.

A modern celebrity, he is pursued by a hungry press pack who are eager to make a legend of the half-human, half-god who has been set seemingly impossible tasks by a jealous Hera, wife of his god-dad Zeus.

In the style of a Greek chorus, the press hounds comment on his celebrity ‘journey’ and are desperate to make more of his dysfunctional childhood, be there when he fails at a task or doorstep Amphitryon, his human dad.

In Princess Diana-style, Hercules, with the help of his nephew-cum-spin-doctor Iolaus, realises that he will get more out of the journalists if he has them on side.

Dale Superville steals the show with a monster role as the lycra-clad Nemean Lion, a Cretan bull on a bicycle and the once-savage two-headed dog Orthrus. Even in his minor roles of a taxi-driver and an Amazon, he manages to catch the audience’s eye.

Hercules is a real family show. The nine-headed hydra is created with swimming hats, goggles and plastic tubing that whistles a tune. The winged monster Geryon is now a ventriloquist playing a downbeat seaside town. The rivers to clean the Augean Stables come out of bubble machines.

But it’s not all slapstick. Hercules has issues about not knowing his birth dad Zeus and is unsure about the benefits of his prize of immortality. He has already killed his wife and children and as Hippolyte puts it: “Forever is a long time for regret.”

There is many an educator who dismisses a classical education but Hercules’ tale stands the test of time. Eastman has successfully brought the Greek myth into the 21st century and the strongman could well end up as a guest on the next series of ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here!’

Hercules is on today at the Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre at 2pm and 7.30pm. For tickets call 0843 208 0500 go to Chester Tourist Information Centre or online at www.grosvenorparkopenairtheatre.co.uk.