‘Orpheus was a poor boy, but he had a gift to give: he could make you see how the world could be’. These words performed on the stage at the Jenny Kerry Theatre resonated and echoed through our minds as we journeyed home. After watching a show with such impact, such energy and verve how could we sit down and write a review to do it justice. I’m not sure if these words will but we hope ‘it might turn out this time’.

Sitting down in the wonderfully purpose built Jenny Kerry Theatre our first impressions were one of high production values with first class staging including a fully stocked bar and plenty of space for a highly anticipated jazz band! Having secured front row seats for the whole clan, we sat in anticipation of the start of what we hoped might reach the dizzy heights of Ryde School’s production of West Side Story. What unfolded in front of our eyes on Thursday evening happily built on the previous success and continued to raise the bar of what is possible in Island theatre not just youth theatre.

We have to admit that Hadestown has snuck under our musical theatre radar and after having the privilege of watching this stunning performance we were not quite sure how. This beautiful musical interweaves and echoes the Greek myths of Orpheus and Eurydice with those of Hades and Persephone. The younger couple provide a reflection of the older one, highlighting the breakdown and erosion of what once was a colourful and vibrant love, left in the cold, hard world of Hadestown.

The music and songs provide mesmeric energy that blend jazz, blues and folk styles. The scenes move with great pace and direction and the characters are hurled and swirled through passionate, tense and heartbreaking scenarios. In brief, Hadestown explores the eternal themes of love and faith through the prism of nature versus industry. It plays with its role in informing, providing belief  and hoping for a better world. There is a focus placed on storytelling and the fact that this is ‘an old song, it’s a sad song… but we’re gonna sing it anyway’.

In a desperate effort to escape poverty, a young woman, Eurydice, is lured to the underworld by Hades. Her lover, the poetic musician Orpheus, must undertake a dangerous journey to bring her back. 

Orpheus, expertly played by Alfie L, bravely portrayed a heartfelt vulnerability and rawness in both his strong and skillful vocals and his measured acting. As soon as Alfie took to the stage he demonstrated a performance ability beyond his years and his renditions of Epic I and Epic II brought forth comparisons with the tones of Damien Rice and Passenger. The song lyrics hung in the air and the echoes of the melodies poured into our hearts. The sheer beauty and nakedness of his vocals had Mrs W-G in tears. It is rare that right from the start of a performance you feel such emotional connection to a character but the ephemeral manner in which Orpheus introduced himself on stage had us transfixed on his every word. 

Providing the foil, the muse for Orpheus’ musical creativity, was Eurydice, stunningly brought to life by Jemima R. She demonstrated such high performance quality it was impossible for us to take our eyes off her. Jemima sings with such emotional strength, poise and feeling. It will be very interesting to see where her bundles of talent take her next. We have seen Jemima in many roles over the years but this was by far our favourite. With her performance of Eurydice she manages to portray acting versatility – hungry pauper, loyal partner, down-trodden worker and regretful fiancee. Jemima makes all of this seem effortless but undoubtedly she has worked hard to master the demands of this role and we found her portrayal of Eurydice spellbinding.

The part of Hermes has been skillfully adapted to include both an enthralling Hermes played by Crystal L and an intrepid Journalist played by Henry W. These two combined provide the storytelling drive, without which the audience would possibly become totally lost within this enthralling tale. They bring to life the struggle, the hardship and the draw of Hadestown and introduce the main characters in this story. Hermes and the Journalist reflect the journey and developments of each character and quietly encourage Orpheus to believe in himself and his own talents.

Crystal commands the stage throughout. Her vocals siren and naturally linger in the air and provide perfect accompaniment to the wonderful jazz band. Henry, in partnership with Crystal, provides a strong character and faultless vocals with excellent tone and clarity. With his perfectly slicked-back hair, Henry observed, scribbled and typed through the wild journey of this musical, convincingly showing a great deal of amazement and wonder with the developments he uncovers along the way. We are left with the feeling that this Journalist not only has sharp hair and a sharp suit, but also a razor sharp eye for detail.

Ava C and Rafferty M have the challenge of embodying the troubled Persephone and Hades. Ava plays her role with vigour and a sparkling allure. Her incredible dancing and singing bring Persephone to life in vibrant technicolour. In addition to this, she manages to beautifully explore her character’s conflicting thoughts, what she has lost and what she still wishes to hold dear. Her vocals throughout are perfect, something we have now come to expect from Ava. She delivered the whole performance with polished timing and excellent precision. 

From his first line to his last, Rafferty, conjures the character of Hades with a wonderfully dark, slightly unhinged manner that matches his character perfectly. He is so well suited to this role and manages to handle his demandingly deep solo lyrics with skillful aplomb. He also lets Hades personal control slip on a few occasions and delivers a wickedly delightful burst of dominating anger. Knowing Rafferty, he is one of the loveliest young performers on the island but I could barely speak or congratulate him at the end of the performance as I had such an innate dislike for his character- perfectly played Rafferty!

It is a joy to be able to highlight the roles of the ‘Fates’; Fate Clotho – Jessica S, Fate Lachesis – Lucy A and Fate Atropos – Annabelle S. These three wonderful performers act as partial narrators and a Greek chorus. Their vocals in solo, duet or trio provide a sumptuous velvet to underscore and caress the audience through scene changes and poignant moments. Their harmonies were sublime. They tempt, they play and they needle characters throughout the course of the story even offering ‘advice’ to Hades in how to deal with the escape of Orphesus and Eurydice; a turn which ultimately leads to the couple’s downfall.

What was not apparent when perusing the ‘star studded’ main cast was the utter strength, commitment and tireless energy of the ensemble cast, cafe club singers and dancers. They drove the story forward, providing a rich depth to each musical number and terrific impact to each highly skillful choreographed dance. Each member knew exactly what they needed to do at each part of the production and they totally nailed it every time! A stunning feat for any performance whether it be, school, amateur or even a professional production. Standout efforts were Hades two guards, their portrayals were so convincing we thoroughly disliked them both!

The choreography, provided by Suzy Morris, skilfully woven within the performance was of a fantastically high quality. It gleamed and shone with evidence of hours and hours of hard work, rehearsal and polishing whilst demonstrating a very high level of skill from all performers. The main ensemble numbers were a highlight with every single performer fully investing, displaying 100% focus and not putting a foot out of place!

As a Jazz fan, Mr W-G was excited to see how the band would blend Folk, Blues and Jazz into this tale. Headed up by Miriam Walker as musical director, It really was a tour de force and what the band managed to achieve, partnering with the performers vocals on stage, was a truly wonderful musical experience. The complexities of this musically did not go unnoticed with some sections of the show totalling a whopping 10 harmony parts.  This was truly a musical feast, a symphonic banquet, not your run-of-the-mill production. To add extra finesse it was brilliantly topped off by a trombone finale solo!

It must also be said that two essential components of any performance were also well delivered. Firstly, the lighting design and operation was excellent, The lighting managed to utilise all of the performance space and was ably supported by the use of two follow spots. The sound, the area that can mar many a production was in this performance excellent. All audio was clear and well mixed ensuring the focus could remain on the wonderful show that graced the stage.

Directed by Charlie Youlten, his vision was superbly executed in every way, drawing on modern day comparisons to make the story all the more relevant and every detail worked beautifully. Speaking to other members of the audience it was clear how emotionally affecting and impactful this performance was.

To all the creative team, cast and musicians, this was a complete triumph. Your production of Hadestown was raw, visceral and utterly extraordinary- thank you for giving it to us. As Willem Dafoe once said ‘Great theatre is about challenging how we think and encouraging us to fantasise about a world we aspire to’. It is totally right to say that this show totally embodied this sentiment wholeheartedly. 

At the time of writing all of the performances of Hadestown are currently sold out. These reviewers dearly hope that future Ryde School productions have more performances so a greater number of audiences can come and see such amazing young theatrical talent on the Isle of Wight…Bravo Ryde School and we will continue to remember that ‘its a hard life, but you’ve got to make the most of it’.