Review: Venus and Adonis (Oxford Playhouse)

Shakespeare’s little known poem Venus and Adonis, is about Venus the goddess of love, falling for handsome mortal Adonis, who is only interested in hunting.  Unlike Shakespeare’s plays, this poem is a straightforward tale, which was been brought to life originally in 2004 by the Royal Shakespeare Company in collaboration with Little Angel Theatre.  A revival of this production, directed by Greg Doran, is on a limited UK tour which is currently at Oxford Playhouse.

On walking into the auditorium the stunning set by Rob Jones was visible. Almost a stage within the stage area, the focal point of the evening was eye-catching before the action even began. This beautiful set delivers in different ways as time goes on, notably towards the end of the show when a final surprise brings the set alive in a whole new way and a collective reaction was heard in the audience.

As the house lights dimmed, Simon Russell Beale took to the stage to narrate the poem. This was done so effectively, every word landed with perfection. Such a beautiful reading, complemented by guitar music played live on stage by Nick Lee. This soundtrack was so well suited; the contrast between silence, a steady background pace and much faster paced music during moments of stress or passion in the story were balanced to perfection.

Alongside the music and reading the story was visually brought to life by five skilful puppeteers; Bartolomeo Bartolini, Edie Edmundson, Lea Maeda, Rachel Leonard and Sarah Wright. There were many different types of puppets from rod and shadow puppets to marionettes and table-top puppets, the first of which was a table top Shakespeare himself as he sat and wrote the poem.

Photo of cast and creatives by Andrew Walmsley

From the tiniest birds in the background, to a huge wild boar and horses, deer and even a hare, there were many different puppets which all played their parts, but of course the stars of the show were Venus and Adonis, at times needing all five puppeteers to work the pair of them, and this was done with such precision. Different sized versions of these characters were used to give perspective and the puppetry was masterful, bringing a huge range of emotions from humour to passion to devastation alive using tiny movements.

The puppets were designed and created by Lyndie Wright with a team of creatives, and they are such a delight to watch.

Venus and Adonis is one of the most beautiful productions I have ever seen. The absolute definition of theatre magic.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Venus and Adonis is showing at  Oxford Playhouse until Saturday 20 June.

I was gifted tickets for this show in exchange for an honest review.