Writer: Lunacy Theatre
Before two big productions of Oedipus battle it out in the West End in the coming months, Camden Fringe Festival offers up a 40-minute version of Odysseus’ encounter with the Cyclops on the side of Mount Etna in its own tribute to Greek tragedy. Lunacy Theatre’s Cyclops: More Than Meets the Eye, showing at the Etcetera Theatre, is a light parody with unclear objectives, poking fun at ideas of heroism and the rollicking adventure story but is never really sure what to do with itself now it has a stage.
Maximus and his two blow-up doll friends Decimus and Dave work as cleaners for the Cyclops, trapped on his island and unable to escape, whiling away their days trying to outwit Silenus, the Cyclops’ attendant. Fresh from the Trojan Wars, Odysseus and his crew are also shipwrecked here, encouraging Maximus to come up with a plan to help them all.
Lunacy Theatre’s show divides into three phases, establishing the situation, bringing in a new element to disrupt the status quo and then a grand finale in which the known ending to Odysseus’ tale plays out – although it is a nice touch to rethink the presentation of this character and undercut his heroism. But beyond this and a number of farcical sequences there is little substance in the remainder of the show, which instead becomes a series of shouty encounters.
It means that Cyclops: More Than Meets the Eye tends to a similar pitch throughout, the three human characters yelling at one another without effectively defining the relationships or the scenario in which the audience finds them. Missing from Lunacy Theatre’s piece is any deeper understanding of the key characters – how did the Cyclops come to be here, what or who is he, why does he exert such control of Silenus and Maximus and what significance is there in being on Mount Etna? Likewise, portraying Odysseus as a lucky coward is a fun idea but how has he got away with it for so long, what do others make of him and what level of self-awareness might he have about that? This show may primarily rely on physical and some verbal comedy, but skimping on these playwriting details makes it meaningless for the audience.
There is a good basis for comedy here and running well short of an hour, there is room to expand further on the scenarios and build in longer, layered jokes or skits. There are some interesting farcical gestures that draw on revolving door comedies and pantomime, but Cyclops: More Than Meets the Eye could be much clearer about the type of humorous presentation they want to use and build their narrative structure from there. In its current iteration, the play stumbles like the blinded Cyclops and a bit more purpose will give it the vision it needs
Reviewed on 21 August 2024
Camden Fringe runs until 25 August 2024
