Wow! This show cracks along at a frenetic pace like a runaway car on a fantastic, mythically themed roller coaster ride.
Persephone’s Wolf centres on a tale about two abandoned boys raised by wolves in the forest. Simple-minded folk in the nearby village panic at the thought of wolves raising humans and they send out a party to kill the wolves and rescue the “wolf boy”. While wolf boy is sent to the town’s asylum for “treatment”, his brother is not noticed by the frenzied crowd and is shortly found by a kindly woman who takes him in and claims him as her own – to put the townsfolk off the scent, as it were.
From hereon, the townsfolk undergo a transformation of conscience, remorseful over their kneejerk reaction, they atone by amending their ways and becoming more liberal and tolerant. However, undercurrents of fear and prejudice still hold sway in political circles and in the vested interests of the town’s institutions, such as the asylum.
The youthful and energitic cast of Sydney’s Bambina Borracha, hurtle us through this original, surreal, comedic fairytale of epic proportion, written and directed by Zoe Norton Lodge and Cait Harris. They sing, they dance, they deliver quips and dialogue with aplomb. This is pure Fringe – edgy, intoxicating, nutty, exhausting and a sheer delight to experience.
Of particular note are the actors playing the largely non-verbal roles – their characterisation, presence and self-awareness hold our focus and ground their whimsical characters in the slapped up, knockabout, elastic reality that this production evokes.
This is a delicious mashup of myth and pythonesque fantasy – hold on tight!