This is an outstanding two-hander. Clive Grainger is the guitar player and Alexander Wright the storyteller. Their now legendary show ORPHEUS has won numerous awards and been performed in America, UK and Adelaide. Thankfully, it’s here. Don’t miss it.
In the Greek myth, Orpheus falls in love with Eurydice. She dies. He mourns. Then he decides to retrieve her from Hades. He manages to by-pass the multi-headed dog Cerberus and does find her. The joy of this ORPHEUS is that Dave, a modern Englishman, is an ‘Orpheus’. Dave meets Eurydice at a karaoke bar while singing Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark. They fall in love. When she dies, Dave must recover from the grief of and find a path to recovery. The poetic path to recovery conceived by Wright and Grainger is really beautiful.
Wright and Grainger slip in and out of roles to chat to the audience, lead us in singing Dancing in the Dark, and generally make us feel part of the show. Informal yet professional, fun yet serious.
Wright and Grainger were close friends from the same city in England. Sixteen years ago they both had two-weeks off work and came up with whimsical, powerful, poetic modern 70-minute ORPHEUS. They’ve been performing it ever since. Their other Greek story in the Sydney Fringe is HELIOS.
It’s such a pleasure going to the Sydney Fringe Festival. It’s the largest independent arts festival in NSW, representing thousands of artists across all art forms. It has built a reputation for nurturing and supporting emerging artists, presenting established artists in the development of new works, promoting small to medium-sized venues and activating public spaces.
There are young people in the Fringe audiences unlike the established the patron of many established theatres. There’s an anticipation that you’re about to experience something unusual and fresh. The performance of ORPHEUS is at SideShow in The Rocks, a narrow terrace house where the audience of 40 sit cheek by jowl as the two performers use the two-meter-wide space effectively. Don’t miss this up-close ultra-minimalist whimsical interpretation of the ancient Greek myth.
ORPHEUS (WRIGHT AND GRAINGER) is playing until the 28th September 2025. Running time 1 hour and 10 minutes. Performing at Sideshow at the Rocks, 37 George Street Terrace.
https://sydneyfringe.com/events/orpheus/
https://www.wrightandgrainger.com
