Haste Theatre’s new take on the myth of
The Hideout is a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon of light-hearted entertainment.
The adaptation is reset in a shady 1920s establishment where the gods Dionysus, Hades and Aphrodite decide to retell the story of the Minotaur in their own unique way. The three of them are excellent at interacting with their audience. Elly Beaman-Brinklow particularly stands out as a lecherous and manic Hades. She and Jenny Novitzky (Aphrodite) also provide an elegant tap-dance number in an intriguing portrayal of the Minotaur. A lot of the show is played for laughs, which works fairly well. The slight farcical nature of Theseus and Ariadne’s relationship in the myth is played on, as well as more basic humour: Sophie Taylor’s Theseus is played with a consistently amusing lisp.
The play suffers, however, when the gods decide to tinker with the original story and it’s not really clear why. Initially intriguing, we end up treated to a confrontation between Theseus and Ariadne on-board a ferry to France, with proceedings just ending with an awkward apology from the gods. Deliberate or not, it’s a bit anticlimactic and undermines the enjoyable performance that preceded it. There were also a couple of issues with vocal projection and, save the dance routine, it’s not certain why everything is set in the 1920s bar, despite the fact that it’s a fairly marketable aesthetic.
The Hideout is a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon of light-hearted entertainment. It perhaps lacks a bit of substance, but still holds much appeal.
