Oh Zeus!
Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch
until October 10th
From Kings of Comedy Le Navet Bete.
When the stability of Olympus is threatened by the marriage of Zeus’ daughter Hebe to Greg, a mere mortal, the King of the Gods hatches a plan to derail the wedding. This sounds like a simple enough premise for a comedy play but what starts out quite ordinary soon descends into a complex riotous farce where everything goes at breakneck speed from bad to worse.
The team of La Navet Bete (actors Al Dunn, Matt Freeman and Nick Bunt) all play multiple characters as Zeus determines that Hebe should not marry Greg GB and thus become Hebe GB (that’s the level of the comedy we are talking about here). The costumes and character changes are done very quickly but there is never any doubt who the actors are supposed to be at any given time – you don’t need a degree in Greek mythology to be able to follow the plot. Think Carry on in the Underworld and you get the idea.
There are two versions of the show – one is a family friendly one that is suitable for all, the other is an 18+ version, though why the company feel the need to have an adult version I don’t really understand. I saw the 18+ version and have to confess that the added adult content didn’t really add anything substantial to the show apart from a bit of schoolboy humour that most of us grew out of by the time we were twelve.
Director John Nicholson gives us a fast-paced show which is somewhat evocative of the type of humour of Fawlty Towers, Bottom and the Goes Wrong Show but it is nowhere near as subtle or sophisticated as any of those shows. All three actors certainly work their socks off to keep the audience entertained and even if this isn’t entirely your sort of humour you do find yourself getting sucked into the story and wanting Greg to succeed and for him and Hebe to have the chance of a happy ending but a lot of Agean water needs to flow before there is any hope of that happening.
The audience at the performance I saw appeared to be split in their appreciation of the show with one half giving it a standing ovation and the other remaining firmly in their seats so I suppose it is a bit of a Marmite show – you’ll either really love it or just find it pleasantly amusing.
⭐⭐⭐
Reviewer: Mike Linane