ACHILLIES | STAGE PREVIEW

ACHILLES

Various venues

Tue 4 -Thurs 6 June

Far removed from the handsome, sun-soaked broodiness of a 00s Brad Pitt, or even Homer’s Iliad for that matter, comes a reinterpretation of the classic myth of Achilles and of the siege of Troy. Glasgow-based theatre company, Company Of Wolves, is set to drag their show away from its Scottish origins and to multiple venues across Wales. However, don’t expect too much of that Hollywood blood and guts or Michael Bay explosions.

Achilles – a production based around the solo performance of one of the founding members of the theatre company, Ewan Downie – will explore the vulnerability behind the mythic figure through a hybridized mode of storytelling that fuses narrative with song and dance. So, prepare to have any preconceptions you have about Achilles tested, as Company of Wolves bring a myth to heel by exposing what lies beneath the savagery and brute strength; a man consumed with loss and grief at the death of a friend.

Achilles’ immersive and hypnotic storytelling hopes to force audiences not only to reconsider what you really know of history, but what you consider to be the essence of a stage production. It appears at Abergavenny Borough Theatre (Tue 4), Y Ffwrnes, Llanelli (Wed 5), and Pontardawe Arts Centre (Thurs 6).

Tickets: £10-£14. Info: www,companyofwolves.org.uk

words Gareth Mitchell