Hadestown

Lyric Theatre, 28/05/24

Credit: Marc Brenner

Final rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Right, let me start off by saying sorry – but I don’t get the hype around this show. I’ve seen people rave about it – and about how hard it is to secure a ticket (I was lucky enough to be given a press ticket). But I was left utterly bewildered at the end of the show, wondering if I’d missed something? But no – I hadn’t.

It is remarkable that I sat through the first act of Hadestown without any semblance of plot – but alas, I did. Some catchy songs – sure. But it is effectively a story that can be told in about 10 minutes – stretched almost unbearably into over two hours by Hermes the narrator (Melanie La Barrie) – who had enough swagger and character to convince us to listen to her story through song. But that’s just it – there wasn’t really a story at all, because there wasn’t a shred of dialogue – just relentless song after song – and actually it felt more like reprise after reprise. All of a sudden elements of the second song are being repeated in the seventh, bits of the fourth in the ninth… etc. It was a confusing mess to say the least.

Onto the leads – and there’s no denying that Dónal Finn who plays Orpheus has got one hell of a voice. And not only that but a range too. And I’ve got no problem with his thick Irish accent – it almost added to the ‘songwriting dreamer’ vibe of his character. But when juxtaposed with an equally strong Peckham accent from Madeline Charlemagne as Eurydice (who I believe was a stand-in from the usual cast), it was a bit jarring. They had obvious chemistry and thus it did add an element of pathos to the story that sees them split from each other as Eurydice sells her soul and descends to the underworld – it’s just not all that interesting. With an equally impressive voice is Zachary James as Hades – who hit notes so low I wasn’t even aware it was possible to get to. He played the role with an evil villain aura that emulated the Pixar animation Megamind (the costume was very similar too, apart from the blue skin obviously). Similarly Gloria Onitiri as Persephone hit some fantastic notes and performed her songs with a jovial and passionate swagger – but again she had no chance for any character development because there was not a single moment of dialogue.

I must mention the set – which was without a doubt breathtaking when it split apart to signal our transition from above the below – using steam and mineshaft-esque lighting to emphasise the industrial nature of the underworld. But again – it was all a bit one note given nobody could actually develop any attachment to it because we just rattled from song to song. The rising and falling platform was probably over-used, and there were moments where random chairs just started moving up and down and I couldn’t even tell if they were meant to be there.

Others around me seemed to be in awe of what they just watched – so too are other reviewers. But I really can’t see what the attraction is given it’s just good singers singing very similar sounding songs with no real storyline to it. It has an unhappy ending of course – which was welcome only because it felt like something mildly interesting or surprising had happened. But then Hermes sings about how it’s a story that they’ll tell again and again even if it’s sad – and I couldn’t help thinking to myself, ‘once is probably enough thanks’.