Review: Venus & Adonis, Barbican Centre

Who would have placed Simon Russell Beale in the raunchiest play in town? Well that’s where we find him, narrating Shakespeare’s evocative, epic poem Venus & Adonis at The Pit, Barbican, with the most incredible puppetry.

A revival of a production first created in 2004 by the Royal Shakespeare Company with Little Angel Theatre, the show retells Ovid’s story of how Venus meets the handsome Adonis and determines to seduce him. The boy is having none of it and it takes quite some effort to win him over – the goddess of love unexpectedly and comically facing the dilemma of being unable to achieve at her speciality subject! Throughout, this adaptation stays admirably true to the original, even including a digression involving a romance between horses that places love in the natural order of things.

Shakespeare’s outstanding talent is here in full; lyrical poetry, comedy, tragedy and keen insight into the human condition – but performed through animated objects. The A-list creative team is headed up by director Greg Doran, whose experience with Shakespearean theatre is inimitable, alongside some of the world’s finest puppetry creators, including Associate Director Sarah Wright and Puppetry Director Steve Tiplady.

This is a brilliant story, stunningly executed. Crisp, classical guitar music, played meticulously by Nick Lee (arranged by John Woolf & Stevon Russell), guides us expertly through its changing emotional landscapes. Aesthetically resplendent backdrops give depth, describing shifting skyscapes, while seated beside Rob Jones’ elaborately lush, castelet-style stage, Russell Beale narrates; a revered Shakespearean actor, who you’d pay to hear read your shopping list. His soulful, undulant delivery of the already wonderful verse in a gorgeously honeyed tone superbly lubricates the steamy scenes that unfold. 

Next we have the most luscious, sensual puppets you might ever hope to see, originally crafted by Lyndie Wright and impeccably manipulated by a team of exceptional puppeteers: Bartolomeo Bartolini, Edie Edmundson, Rachel Leonard, Lee Maeda & Sarah Wright. There’s magic in their seamless teamwork, with tiny details giving extra believability to the erotically charged characters – a hidden breath lifting gauze to manifest life, hands faultlessly passing carved limbs intimately between them to effortlessly suggest human motion and sizzling sexual encounters. 

The protagonists are simply gorgeous, relating their characters in their very physicality. Venus boasts a curvaceous, peachy body made from soft leather and palpably oozing lust, while Adonis is solid and unyielding, sculpted from firm wood (ooh, matron!) and hilariously requiring persuasion to surrender to her cheekily naughty solicitations. (See our recent interview with Edie Edmundson for more.) 

Additional sumptuous puppets include the Bard himself as a marionette and a magnificent golden coach that soars, lifted by birds. Bold shadow work gives primitive presence to a marauding boar, and the puppets even reinvent the audience as groundlings when they occasionally escape into the crowd, a hare at one point sitting on someone’s head and eager horses bounding throughout the space. A breathtaking highlight sees the proscenium itself come alive as Venus engages in a literal dance with death. The whole demonstrates varied and vivacious talent that leaves the audience gasping.

And a mythical quality arises as we’re invited to suspend our disbelief. The characters defy gravity, and delightfully theatrical lighting (Vince Herbert & Lauren Watson) adds an ethereal tone, as the audience is wholly drawn into a shared realm of raunchy imagination. 

This show is crafted, fanciful and very funny. But above all, it’s revelatory as we imaginatively conjoin with objects to penetrate a deeply human story; seeing Adonis initially objectified himself, before his tragically human fragility is realised in a deeply poignant ending. Shakespeare’s work is witty and incisive, but Doran’s sizzlingly sexy interpretation makes it uniquely unmissable.

Directed by Greg Doran
Associate Director: Sarah Wright
Director of Puppetry: Steve Tiplady
Design by Rob Jones
Lighting Design by Vince Herbert, Lauren Watson
Music Arrangement by John Woolf, Stevon Russell
Puppet Design and Creation by Lyndie Wright with Jan Zalud, John Roberts, Stefan Fichert, Simon Auton, Jungmin Song
Puppetry Consultant: Avye Leventis
Production Manager: Mark Graham
Company Stage Manager: Rachael Barber
Assistant Stage Manager: François Pandolfo
Stage Technicians: Matt Aston, Harry Oliver, Tom Watts, Ben Wheatley, Andy Barnes, Paul Hadfield
Lighting Technicians: Lauren Watson, Claire Gerrens, Caroline Burrell

Venus & Adonis plays at The Pit, Barbican, until Saturday 27 June.