Fringe Show Reviews

Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

Theseus and the Minotaur

Written by: The Struts and Frets Players

Presented by: The Struts and Frets Players / Winnipeg, MB

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Our Rating: Your Average Rating:

07/17/2009 5:20 PM | Comments: 0

Theseus may or may not be the son of Poseidon or Aegeus.

When a Greek teenager has those kinds of daddy issues, you know he’s headed for a quest.

He’s going to encounter a few fantastic characters and try to save the youth of Athens from becoming Minotaur chow. And if this Greek myth is being performed by Winnipeg’s Struts & Frets Players, it’s going to be one funny tragedy. Sort of.

That’s the charm of this group of actors. They take very old but very sound source material, give it a contemporary polish and tell it with verve and great humour.

As funny as these actors are, it’s not all fun and games. There are elements of tragedy in this story. When the sobbing mothers of Athens (Kerri Potter, Sarah Watkins, and Jessy Ardern) are seen on the shore sending their children to be sacrificed to King Minos’s (a versatile Dan Augusta) Minotaur, their grief is heartfelt. And Ariel Levine’s Theseus is believably torn trying to comprehend the horror.

But the production never overwhelms and comic relief in the form of visual gags and clever wordplay is always elegantly timed to keep the story moving forward.

— Wendy Burke

From the official Fringe program:

Theseus wants more than anything to stop the annual human sacrifice Athens must make to Crete.
Ariadne wants more than anything to escape Crete and marry Theseus.
The Minotaur wants more than anything to eat Theseus and Ariadne.
From the company that brought you last year's smash hit Perseus and Medusa comes a new tale of love, loss and labyrinths.

RECOMMENDED: General Audience

75 min.

Venue#7 The Conservatory 211 Bannatyne Ave (Crocus Bldg.)

Tickets: $9
Discount Tickets: $7 for Students, Seniors, Kids (12 & under), If your father is a bull

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