Matador Vs. Minotaur - Theatrical Touches with Gleeful Messiness

Shows like Matador Vs. Minotaur are why I go to Fringe Festivals. I loved it.

This is a raunchy fun take on the Theseus and Minotaur tale that confirms what I’ve always secretly suspected – Theseus is kind of a dick. “Yeah yeah, black sail white sail, I got it dad.”

The show starts off with a traditional Greek chorus tacking as down the dark road of tragedy then suddenly switches the gears on us bringing rock n’ roll, WWF wrestling, lingerie, the ocean in a bucket and some gross humour to the classic tale.

It’s not perfect, and that only serves it more. This is B Theatre in its awesomeness. There is a great sense of wacky randomness that embraces the low budget nature of The little Mountain Studios. A mother grieves as her two children are chosen to be shipped off to the maze then strips a layer of clothes to be the second child, Aegeus gets down in a grass skirt and the same actor shows up latter in a leopard print bikini and a blond wig as a ring girl for the Minotaur/ Theseus death match, Medusa sorts a thick Spanish accent and the same wig, the minotaur spouts lines from Titus Andronicus and Macbeth piped through speakers and there are random dance sequences.

What really allows this show lift are the lovely theatrical touches throughout providing a great counterpoint to the gleeful messiness that inhabits the piece. There is some beautiful movement work through the opening chorus and both the Labyrinth and ship are created simply and imaginatively with the actors' bodies. Also helping are the moment of pathos as a young child cries on the pier before being shipped off to be eaten or Ariadne waking up alone abandoned by Theseus on an island “oh fuck”.

Off the wall, funky, sexy, rude, funny with some lovely theatrical touches. Is this high art – probably not. Is it a great time – hell yeah!