Creators: Wright&Granger
A blend of spoken word and musical musings, this is a production that attracts an audience ready to dance and sing. Participation is all but required for The Gods, The Gods, The Gods, an immersive and evocative performance of a 12-track album from the musical and poetic minds of duo Wright&Grainger.
Through the mist and purple lights, under guitar strings, deep bass lines and the strong vocals of Phil Clive Granger, Alexander Wright and Lucie Turner, the huddled audience of Cavendish Square’s pop-up venue hear four spoken word stories of the gods gathered in a café, of two lovers meeting on a sticky dance floor, of a woman on a beach, and of a man on a bridge.
The production is successful with every tale, swinging from themes of the deities to ones of the mundane – ‘think of a café, a local greasy spoon. It is there that Zeus calls the meeting of the gods’. It’s this oscillation in which the core of the production resides; we don’t need detached omniscience or mythology to find meaning and joy within ourselves, to be kind to ourselves, to appreciate imperfect beauty around us and in other people. It is a noble and easily digested message, even if the devoutness is a touch awkward at times.
At some moments the stories are truly moving; the tale of a woman on the beach, looking to the sky, particularly. Told by the pre-recorded voice of Bryony, who we are informed has recently passed away, it is captivating and heart-breaking in the simplicity of her grief for a lover whom she has lost. Staring at the sky, she recounts accidentally cooking for two or putting on music her love would like, and then remembering they are gone. Under the emotive music, it works beautifully in the dimly lit atmosphere and holds the audience enraptured.
Other moments are enjoyable but fail to hold the audience in the same way. The pace of the story of the lovers fails to allow the audience to savour the words enough to care about the outcome. The Man on the Bridge story deals with sensitive material well and successfully encourages positive self-reflection in the audience. But even if these messages are mixed in with original music and poetic spoken word, the earnest cliches can become slightly jarring.
Gaps between tracks occasionally offer a needed break from the intensity, but often fracture the storytelling spell. From the outset, the audience quickly gets to grips with the different storylines and who is telling them, so the jokey instructions on where to look and what to do are unnecessary interruptions.
Despite this, the audience is taken with the poetic trio, and joins in with the dancing, clapping and singing of the joyous finale. If slightly over-zealous in its sincerity at times, The Gods, The Gods, The Gods is certainly watchable.
Runs until 21 September 2024
