In their ambitious upcoming production, the EUTC adapts a handful of the classic myths of Ovid’s Metamorphoses — situating them within a raging, bacchanalian house party. Cast in a new light by six of Bedlam’s finest writers, their version of these classic stories will be coming to Bedlam Theatre from 25th-28th February. The Student sat down with director and writer Benjamin Freckleton and producer and writer James Harvey to discuss the adaptation.
An unwieldy source material, Ovid’s 900-page tale comprises many, many myths. I ask what their favourite of the ones they have adapted is. Both praise Narcissus, with Ben explaining their take on it: “Robbie Morris wrote that section. He casts Narcissus as a sympathetic character, who the audience side with, despite him often being thought of as this evil, twisted—”
“—vain bastard?” James offers.
A mammoth task, Ben explains the writing process: “Once we made the decision to start adapting it ourselves, I put together a list of writers who I really wanted on the project, and picked myths for them that I thought would work with their styles.” He continues, “I thought Narcissus would be a good one for Robbie Morris, because he does very interesting things with speeches. We got in touch with Salvador Kent about the weirder sections of it — the more harrowing, technical, spooky sections. Freya McCall — we gave her Midas because I wanted Midas to be one of the best, and we knew that she would do it absolute justice.”
To ensure coherence, it wasn’t just Ben editing the scripts together, but the actors themselves who played a pivotal role: “They helped make sure that everything has the same tone and style, and that the characters speak the same way. Noor [Bashir, The Narrator] has edited the sections where there were parts that felt off.”
Most ambitious, however, is the set. “Between the pool, the way we’re completely redoing Bedlam, the DJ booth… everything about the set is immense,” James informs me. When I inquire about the infamous ‘no liquids on Bedlam’s stage’ rule, James has found a loophole: “It doesn’t count. It is the stage.”
On the cultural references that have influenced the production, James tells me, “Skins.” Ben agrees: “It’s a bacchanalia. We didn’t want a bunch of people in togas drinking wine, because nobody connects to that. Instead, we have a bunch of people in suits and hoodies and tank tops, drinking shots, Buzzballz, venoms…’
I ask the pair about the relevance of these old myths in contemporary times. “I think all of them are important to today,” Ben explains. “Sure, there are these people from old times running about doing these myths — but every single one of them has something to say. Orpheus and Eurydice can be seen as the tale of a man who goes to try and rescue his wife — or you can read it as a metaphor for grief, about desperately trying to cling on to things that you’ve lost. With Midas, I feel like we all know of lots of power-hungry, gold-grabbing, evil people, who will sacrifice anything to get what they want. And so it’s less about making the myths relevant today — and more that the myths are relevant, and we’re just putting a filter on so that you can see how relevant they are.”
James adds, “Our tagline is: ‘old stories, new voices.’ And we’ve got six writers, with different perspectives on these characters. They’re very human ideas, like addiction, grief, when you accidentally turn someone to plaster…”
What do they want audiences to take from the play? Instead of a reshuffling of morals, Ben tells me: “The main thing we want people to come away with is having had a good time. We aren’t a show that is expecting you to come and sit and appreciate a piece of art. We’re a show that wants you to come and really enjoy something that we put on. Yes, there are deeper messages and themes that we’re touching on that we want people to really connect with, but the ultimate goal is that people come and they have a fantastic night.” This will be aided, I am informed, by the custom cocktails that Bedlam will be selling during the interval.
Finally, I ask the pair for their parting words. Characteristically direct, James says, “Come to the show.” Ben fixes this with a grin: “The House of Bacchus is waiting for you.”
Photo by Emily Sharp (@emilyrosesharp on Instagram)