Simon Russell Beale tenderly narrates Greg Doran's tragic romance Venus & Adonis, a puppet production of Shakespeare's poem of unrequited love, now revived at the Barbican in London. First performed 22 years ago, this enchanting show uses masterful puppetry and a playful air of seduction to tell the story of Venus's pursuit of the handsome Adonis.
Puppet mastery and design
Lyndie Wright designed and created the cheeky puppets, which are wooden in material only. A raunchy Venus weeps and begs as the gorgeous, occasionally petulant Adonis rejects her advances, more interested in hunting than in love. Venus moves with such ease that the team of five puppeteers is barely visible as they manipulate her arms and legs with surgical skill. The production uses marionettes, shadow, rod, Bunraku and other puppets to build an ethereal world of miniature beauty, plus the exquisite ugliness of an angry, snuffly boar.
Direction and wit
Wit is at the forefront of Doran's detailed direction: it appears in the playful pat of a horse's rump, the brief resting of a hare on an audience member's head, and the moment Nick Lee's live guitar comes to an abrupt, knowing halt as Adonis stops Venus's hand from sliding further up his perfectly muscled leg. Lee's select melodies heighten these humorous moments and cast light on the tragedy, as Venus veers from floating with ecstasy to dancing with death on Robert Jones's golden, fringed set, which hides a secret of its own.
Narration and performance
Reading from a seat by the side of the stage, Beale holds each phrase with care: now wise, now funny, now sharp. Tear your eyes from the stage for a moment and you might catch him mirroring the puppets by holding a lovestruck hand to his heart. "Good queen," he says, catching the eye of Venus who looks up from her reluctant lover, "it will not be." The production runs at the Barbican, London, until 27 June, then at York Theatre Royal from 30 June to 1 July.
