Assembly Roxy
Aug 24-27 (21:20 )

Dies Irae

The gods are angry and they’ve chosen the Mythological Theatre Co. to deliver a stunning smackdown at the Edinburgh Fringe – cue the smoke and heavy metal! A low drone of doom emanates from the deep, as through the enveloping plume a cavalcade of characters emerge from another realm to kick our asses. This is ‘Mythos: Ragnarok’ edition.

Classic Norse mythology with all the heroes and villains, legends and lore, this time being played by professional wrestlers. The scale is epic and the biceps are bulging. It’s quite a thing to behold, Odin, Loki et al in full flight and executing top-level combat choreography to gasps and guffaws from an enthralled audience. The directing from Ed Gamester (who plays Odin) is first rate, with the entrances of new characters perfectly placed throughout to keep us maintained at peak bloodlust. The design, costumes and atmospherics from Melanie Watson, are transportative and wonderfully visceral.

Staged in the grand Underbelly church, with its stone columns and rich history, the atmosphere is thick with anticipation. Gamester leads a truly stellar cast each with their own tremendous presence and personality. Richard Summers Calvert, playing Loki, shines, generating the most laughs and establishing strong rapport as the impish half-brother. Thor makes an appearance, except his IQ is struggling to get above his body fat percentage – a novel take on the famous character.

The audience lap up the rivalries and boasting, accepting that the final judgment must ultimately be determined in the ring. The athleticism is fantastic, and the moves made me think there was real injuring happening – but I guess I have scant experience with performance wrestling. The point is – it works – they’re amazing – go see it or you’re missing out.

In the second half the script unfortunately squanders the glorious levity and absurdism earned in the first half, presumedly to serve the tragic meta-narratives around death and sacrifice. I thought the playful tone would have been better sustained for longer but nonetheless, the fight scenes kept everyone in awe till the end.

Gamester informs us that pound for pound this is the most expensive show at the Fringe, which judging by the pounds of muscle on them, must cost a hefty amount to stage. Their dedication is immense and straight after they’ve finished the most physical show I’ve ever seen at the Fringe, they jump back in to pack down the set and clear the stage. Wow.

The only downside was the long seating array, which meant the back half got a markedly less spectacular experience than the front so I recommend getting there early to cue. This show should pretty much have mandated in-the-round seating or thrust, and I’d even lobby for it to get its own purpose built Thunderdome, Mad Max style. But maybe that’s the power of their creation – they have me pumping my dreams to a mythical scale.

It’s good to know that no matter how civilised we get, our blood still pumps for the brutal sport of hand to hand combat of gladiatorial ages past. This troupe captures this primal essence so well. This is how the gods taunt us puny humans with our love for bearing witness, as they smackdown, crash through and break each other apart in a live liturgy of immortal muscularity. See it.

Stuart Bruce