Out and About – Myth

Myth, Market Place, Banbury
Performed by the Cherwell Theatre Company

With its community feel, our station likes to interview charity and community organisations, promoting their various roles and events. And when we can, we like to go along and see something we have promoted.

Myth a free ‘Pop Up’ Festival Performance by Tristan Jackson-Pate, Artistic Director, Cherwell Theatre Company has been touring Oxfordshire in the past week.

‘Myth’ is a new play for family audiences, exploring tales from Ancient Greece, devised with young people and performed in outdoor spaces. Yesterday it stopped off at the Market Place in Banbury.

CTC’s young participants have worked with professional actors and theatre creatives to bring you classic stories, from Pandora to Prometheus and Poseidon to Persephone, presented with live music, slapstick comedy, dazzling puppetry and a Greek chorus to boot.

​The play was designed to be enjoyed by all, from babies on laps to grandparents. In fact, we recommend this play as an early introduction to theatre for children, with it’s relaxed performance style and interactive sections, designed to keep them engaged and entertained. This production is Autism friendly and features no flashing lights.

We asked them, Are the Greek Myths a bit scary? “Well, yes, but we know children like the grizzliest stuff the best! Whether it’s Prometheus having his liver pecked out by an Eagle or Kronos gobbling his babies up like grapes, these are the moments we all remember from these classic stories of course they went onto inspire classic fairy stories like Grimm’s Fairy Tales which are full of other such grizzly acts! We’ve made sure gruesome moments such as these are played for comic effect, with slapstick and silliness, so as not to frighten or upset our young audiences – think Horrible Histories if you like your Groovy Greeks! “​

The running time was approximately 90 minutes, including an interval of 20 minutes. The relaxed performance style meant that if your children were feeling restless and fancied a run around or trip to the toilet during the performance, they could come and go as they pleased.

Photo courtesy of our member, Brian Baker.