
Zeus on the Loose
Fire
25th Sept to 2nd Nov 2019
“A rollercoaster fusion of musical theatre, circus and burlesque that will leave you saying “oh my gods”! Returning to London after a sell-out run at the Camden Fringe, Zeus On The Loose is a wild and wanton take on some of the most famous tales from ancient Greek mythology, now playing at Fire, one of London’s leading nightclubs.
Strictly for adults and not for the faint hearted, it’s a fast paced, immersive mix of story, song and special effects, breathtaking cabaret, burlesque and more. Mythical figures taking the stage include a randy bisexual Zeus, his plotting, scheming, scorned wife Hera, the sinister underworld guardian Hades, and the loving sisters Aphrodite and Ilithyia, whose innocence belies their power to destroy the most potent of gods. Come and see the untold Greek mythology story – it’s so wrong!”
Review by Richard Lambert, 1 Stars
It’s a difficult task to create a story that binds a couple of circus acts and this makes for a confusing book. No clue as to what this was all about except that Zeus seemed to want to bump and grind with younger girls much to the annoyance of one of the others. It’s a difficult task to perform circus acts on a tiny stage – the aerial hoop isn’t high enough and is left as a visual obstruction for most of the 2nd half, and the bow and arrow only has to fire a few feet across the stage.
Couple this with lighting that makes the performer’s faces Red or Blue, and lighting that has more hot spots on the audience than the performers, it’s going to struggle to make any impact.
The video is jerky with only a few clips, the sound blasts the underscores, the mics are turned on late, and the audience are constantly blinded by the lights. It’s not great.
This production suffers from a lack of technical ability and inexperienced staging.
It’s over-sold itself on the adult nature of the show and misses the mark by miles. “Strictly for Adults” is part of their marketing yet there wasn’t any adult content or nudity.
It was a shame that some of the audience didn’t return after the interval.
“Zeus on the Loose” does have something and did have it’s moments. Vicky Vox was charismatic and engaging whenever she made an appearance and frankly saves the show. If she MC’d the acts in a cabaret and the acts were braver and more racuous in nature this would be a very entertaining evening.
Cast
Michael Afemare
Dean McCollough
Vicky Vox
Fern Hopkins
Penni Tovey
Phyl Cashman
Sean O’Flanagan
Suzie Smith
Shannen Jones
Director & Producer Emma Rollason
Musical Director Elizabeth Lahav
Choreographers Allie Ho Chee and Phyl Cashman
Dates September 25th 2019 – November 2nd 2019
Thursday – Saturday, 7pm
Running Time 3 hrs
Box Office Pandora’s Door (https://pandorasdoor.com)
Ticket Price £29.50-34.50 / £19.50 (standing)
Links Website (https://pandorasdoor.com/zotl)
Trailer (https://youtu.be/LNyQxXhYsYs)
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