Half Man Half Bull: Daedalus is an emotionally devastating retelling of a classic Greek myth from the point of view of a grieving father. It is, as the title suggests, the second part of a series (the first part being Theseus) but can absolutely be enjoyed as a stand-alone show. These productions are being performed back-to-back in the Summerhall Dissection Room.
Daedalus is told in the style of gig theatre, which utilises a combination of song, spoken word, and music in order to tell a story. This particular story is the well-known Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus – while most tellings of this myth typically focus on Icarus and his death, this production places the emphasis on Daedalus. The show begins twenty years following the escape and Icarus’s death and introduces Daedalus as a grieving father who is a regular in a pub, before rewinding time back to before the Minotaur was slain.
‘Pterodactyl’ (performed by Oliver Tilney and Aminita Francis) introduces the audience to the relationship between Daedalus and his son. It is an upbeat, cheerful number, which makes it all the more upsetting for the audience to know that it is only a matter of time before Icarus’s fall. Phil Grainger demonstrates their phenomenal vocals in ‘Flying’, and plays their guitar to accompany Alex Wright’s powerful spoken delivery in ‘Falling’.
At its heart, Daedalus is a performance about loneliness, and the audience is actively invited in to share Daedalus’s unbearable grief. First, by asking the audience to form paper aeroplanes, and later by encouraging them to join in with the refrain of one of the final songs. Oliver Tilney gives an incredibly moving performance as Daedalus, the stand-out moment of the show being the monologue ‘The Labyrinth (Epilogue)’, which shows Daedalus beginning to open up about Icarus. This is spoken on top of the scene of feathers on a barstool, a powerful image to symbolise Icarus’s absence.
Half Man Half Bull: Daedalus offers a unique perspective of the myth of Icarus and Daedalus, providing a narrative beyond what we are used to. It explores the true tragedy of Icarus – that it is a story of a father being forced to outlive his son. It is a heart-breaking, thought-provoking performance by the exceptionally talented cast of four, and a show that I would recommend to anyone with a free evening and an interest in Greek mythology.
