Venus & Adonis – Oxford Playhouse

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Greg Doran

There are few moments in a theatre-going career when all the elements of a production come together so perfectly to deliver an evening of pure theatrical magic. Greg Doran’s production of Venus & Adonis is one such moment and one that any lover of theatre should strive to attend if they possibly can.

First performed as a collaboration between the RSC and Little Angel Theatre, Greg Doran’s 2004 production has been revived a number of times over the subsequent years. It is ostensibly a very simple affair: one narrator, one musician and five puppeteers bringing Shakespeare’s poem to life on the stage. But it is very much greater than the sum of its parts.

The story itself is a simple one – a goddess falls in love with a beautiful mortal (as they are wont to do), the mortal rejects her. She seeks another meeting, but he refuses, preferring to go hunting. Tragedy then intervenes. Doran and his collaborators have taken Shakespeare’s poem (that few outside the scholarly community read regularly, if at all) and created something truly special.

Puppets have a long history in theatrical storytelling and, in modern terms, are now sadly underused. In the right hands, they bring a unique quality to the stage that surpasses what humans alone can bring. Here, the puppets, created by the legendary Lyndie Wright and her team, draw on Japanese and Venetian traditions, are handled beautifully by the team – Bartolomeo Bartolini, Edie Edmundson, Lea Maeda, Rachel Leonard and Sarah Wright. Together they convey delicate emotion, huge energy, passion, humour, and so much more. Their range of expressions are simply captivating. Whether portraying humans, animals or gods, they are constantly delivering new delights for the eyes and the soul.

It is wrong to think of puppets as being solely for children; this Venus & Adonis proves that they can be central to our theatrical life, more than capable of delivering the full range of human emotions in a heartfelt and memorable way.

The design by Rob Jones frames the action with an embellished Proscenium Arch, which, itself, provides a coup de theatre later in the action that brings gasps from the audience. It is a visually stunning piece of work.

At the heart of the action is the beautiful guitar playing of Nick Lee. He has been associated with the production from the start, and his dazzling musicianship captures the shifting moods of the text and action to perfection.

Of course, Shakespeare’s text has to be delivered by an actor of great skill and in Simon Russell Beale, Doran has a narrator of experience, warmth and humanity. As one of our greatest living actors, Beale is alert to every opportunity the text affords to bring drama, character, lightness and tragedy to the fore where necessary. He is more than a narrator – the English language is sadly lacking a term to better describe what he brings to the stage. It is a performance alert to every nuance and one that lingers long after the audience leaves the theatre.

It is entirely possible that this is the greatest production that Greg Doran has ever directed. He marshals his forces with a delicacy of touch and sensitivity that allows every element to coalesce into sixty minutes of sublime theatre.

Runs until 20 June 2026 and on tour