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Works and Days

 
Alec Martin Review by Alec Martin 4 Published: 8 Aug 2025 The Lyceum Show Dates: 7 Aug 2025-10 Aug 2025

Ploughing a furrow straight through the Lyceum stage, FC Bergman’s Works and Days resurrects Hesiod’s agrarian hymn in a startling display of stagecraft that proves – to paraphrase Bananarama and the Fun Boy Three – it really ain’t what you say, it’s the way that you say it.

You can almost smell the overturned earth

While the central thesis and themes of this spectacular show may not surprise anyone, the way the Belgian company presents them remains breathtaking. A wooden floor is ripped up, animals are slaughtered, a ramshackle barn is erected from torn boards and beams; there is sex, birth, death, struggle, blood, industrial machinery and flying pineapples. It is a breathless journey played out in striking sequences in which ritual gestures land with visceral heft – you can almost smell the overturned earth. Joachim Badenhorst and Sean Carpio’s live score is equally sumptuous: baritone sax drones melt into metallic percussion, steering us from bucolic calm toward machine-age menace.

Throughout it all, visual bravura remains the production’s richest crop. Rain lashes from the flies; open flame licks the palms of the performers; blood splatters the front row (wearing that white T-shirt was a mistake). The final avalanche of chaos and the introduction of cutting-edge technology into the ruins of the set offer provocation rather than release. Some spectators may crave firmer anchorage amid the swirling symbolism, but that elusiveness feels oddly faithful to Hesiod’s lament that toil and advancement are forever entwined – and it keeps the thematic soil fertile for post-show debate.

The piece may dig no new furrows thematically, yet its sensory force is undeniable. By the curtain call, spectators are left feeling as though history, industry and myth have all marched across their shoes, leaving muddy footprints that refuse to fade. It convinces you that even when treading ancient earth, good theatre can still startle.

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The Blurb:

UK PREMIERE

FC Bergman's latest piece reckons with what is lost when our bond to the earth fades.

Birth, life and death converge at the heart of this visually spectacular performance, as theatre collective FC Bergman seeks the truth about our place in the wider world. Their latest wordless piece blends stunning imagery, movement and music to explore our connection with the land we inhabit.

Journeying from ancient times to the present, the play cycles through the seasons and fundamental human rites of passage. The ingenious set design exposes the actors to all the elements – from fire to water. The magnificent visuals nod to famous pastoral paintings, all told with FC Bergman's signature humour and pathos.

Accompanied by on-stage musicians playing original music inspired by Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, the performance transports you to a time when the land was everything, and our existence was inseparable from it.

Listen on Soundcloud or Spotify.

Supported by Sir Ewan and Lady Brown

A keepsake freesheet is available at the venue for this performance.