#But Reeve and Eva’s Hadestown is closer to the audience because of Hermes’s closeness with Orpheus

[reflection-s-of-stars]

The inclusion of Hermes as a father figure rather than a narrator in Hadestown is the single best thing Anaïs Mitchell could possibly have done for the framing of her story in this essay I will-

[ninasfireescape]

HADESTOWN

So yesterday (21st December) I saw hadestown at the National with @only-a-little-bit-dead, @ya-sudan and my mum. I’ve been a fan for a little over a year, having got into it through great comet (I would die for Amber Gray) so not only was it incredible getting to see it live but also to see her live and now I’ll give my thoughts/casual review of the production.

There are three theatre spaces at the National and it’s in the Olivier which is the biggest and is the one with the spinning stage which fits perfectly.

Also I completely underestimated how close to the front I would be. I booked for this side balcony bit but it’s actually right in front of the stage so I was only five feet from the actors and Amber and Eva made eye contact with me multiple times.

The set is this cute summer cafe but if you “look a little closer” you see it’s covered in mould. There’s also a bunch of posters up and one is for a jazz concert.

All of the cast enter at the beginning and Eurydice is rocking her look by French tucking her shirt (Tan would be proud). Hades and Persephone spend the first few songs just chilling up on the balcony and it makes it all the more ominous when he finally comes down in Way Down Hadestown. Persephone is fanning herself the whole way through.

I should mention this production is really diverse. Like not just racially but they’ve got dancers of all different sizes and body types and one dancer is an amputee as well.

When Hermes calls the Fates “three old women all dressed the same” they all glare at him and it’s really funny.

Eva is an amazing singer and she’s so beautiful and really small and Orpheus gives her lots of piggy backs

Persephone gives her her lil flower in Livin’ It Up On Top

I know lots of people were wondering about a sex scene in the show. I’d hardly call it a sex scene. It was Eurydice artfully straddling Orpheus for 0.2 seconds while fully clothed then rolling off him to sing All I’ve Ever Known

For no reason, Hermes whips out an umbrella and honestly? Iconic. (Also Hermes you know it’s bad luck to open an umbrella inside you’ve caused bad luck for Orpheus and Eurydice)

Like I said, Hades is on stage all the way up until Way Down Hadestown but we never hear him say anything until then so I expect for people who hadn’t heard the soundtrack before his voice must have been such a shock and the build up worth it. It’s actually surreal hearing a voice that deep live and my friends and I were all saying we wished our voices were that low

He and Persephone stand in the centre of the stage and then it just sinks below the floor. This trap door works a lot through the show  but the first time is when they first go to Hadestown and it’s a big surprise at this point. Steam comes out and they just disappear.

The Fates act as the wind and tear off Eurydice’s coat so she’s just left with her half French-tucked shirt and it really opens the question of whether she actually died of exposure.

Meanwhile, Orpheus is just chilling writing his song at the side of the stage. I bet if we looked at that sheet of paper, it would just be pictures of his gf in hearts

Orpheus is really adorable ok.

And then he turns around and “oh my gf’s gone and I didn’t notice.”

Wait for me is really really really amazing. First of all, they’ve added some nice overlapping memories but there’s swinging lights overhead, smoke everywhere, and the workers have torches on their heads. It genuinely feels scary as the Fates follow him around going “Who are you?” so you feel he actually is facing dangers while walking to Hadestown.

Act 2 begins and Persephone is hiding flasks in amongst her basket of flowers. All the workers are really in love with her and one of them looks like he is about to faint when she puts her arm around him. Mood.

When she says “it’s right here waiting in my pay-per-view” she points at her forehead so I think Persephone’s speakeasy is ultimately just her sharing stories about being up on top and that’s how desperate the workers are to be out - that they’ll settle for stories about it.

Flowers is so beautiful, this is where you hear Eva’s voice the best.

Orpheus runs through the audience to her.

There’s this amazing dance sequence where Hades commands the workers to fight Orpheus

Hades has taken off his jacket and has a tattoo of a brick wall on one arm and another tattoo on the other but I can’t tell what it is.

If it’s true, also a gorgeous song, why did they cut this from the cast album?

All the workers end up banding behind Orpheus after this.

Now this is where a bit of bitterness comes in, they changed ALL the lyrics to Persephone’s verse in Chant II. I don’t mind most of the changes they made but this is bad, and they’ve also shoehorned in a verse sung by Orpheus which just doesn’t fit the tune but oh well.

“I CONDUCT THE ELECTRIC CITY!!!!” Patric’s voice is so powerful that there’s a burst of electricity and then a full blackout.

Epic III, Hades is crying, Persphone is crying, you’re crying, I’m crying, there’s a link between the two couples and Orpheus ends up starting a riot and the trap door bit in the middle rises up with him on top of it.

His Kiss The Riot is incredible to hear live as well with all the background music. The Fates all have instruments and are playing around him as well as the band. This is one of my favourite songs in the musical.

So Orpheus and Eurydice head back up and this section is really scary. The stage is spinning madly, Eurydice disappears off and you can barely see a thing, just smoke and shadows. Everything is really distorted as the set comes back together, shaking everything. There’s a new verse where you really see inside Orpheus’ head and though we all know he’s a dumb bitch, we understand why he would turn around because he thinks Hades is playing a trick on him.

Indeed, when Eurydice does reappear onstage to sing, she almost looks too happy, you can imagine her being some kind of vision sent to taunt him.

Light filters through this metal grate on the floor to show they’ve almost reached the surface and Orpheus is literally on the top step when he turns around. Eurydice slowly sinks back through the floor.

The play starts again at the beginning with Eurydice and Orpheus meeting again. I don’t quite know what it’s meant to be showing but I think it’s about how we tell the story again and again even though we know how it ends.

The bows take place. Here I was internally thinking “WHY WOULD THEY CUT PERSEPHONE’S FINAL SONG?”

However it comes after the bows. Hermes basically tells everyone to stop clapping and sit down without saying a word and Persephone sings I Raise My Cup.

Meeting the cast

I managed to meet everyone except for one of the fates

The cast all probably hate me because the pen I brought doesn’t work very well and Andre De Shields borrowed a gold sharpie from someone else and then wrote his name out with it in my programme in huge letters. He’s so fancy and I love it.

Apparently they were told English audiences are really cynical and were shocked by how lively we are. Then again, he does have a point. I’ve been to Hamilton London and the audience don’t even clap for “My name is Alexander Hamilton.”

My friends and I were pretty sure Reeve Carney was smashed when he came outside but he was really nice and had a long conversation with us. I know the discourse about him and honestly so unnecessary. I agree that the guy on the workshop has a better singing voice but Reeve is a great singer too and he can actually act. He is not to the detriment of the musical in any way.

The Fates seemed surprised I wanted a picture with them but they were really nice. I talked a lot to Gloria Onitiri and we joked about an actor’s salary when she asked if I was coming to Broadway and how I said “I’m a student so no”

I waited a loooooong time for Amber to come outside because I painted her a picture of her as Helene and Persephone. There was only one other person outside so I was just about to ask the doormen if I could leave my picture when she came out. She was soooo lovely and she really liked my painting. She said she’d take it to Broadway with her. She said no pictures which I was sad about but fair enough and I GOT TO MEET HER!

[reflection-s-of-stars]

#Soph’s posts#Hadestown#because!!! Because when Hermes is involved in the story it completely reshapes the way it’s being told!!!#He’s a character AND a narrator. The story is being told by somebody inside it#Because it’s not just a story even to those that know it’s a story. It’s both a life lived and a tale told.#The narrator is the thing that connects us to any story because without one we wouldn’t HAVE a story#And having a narrator who is also a character and is AWARE of that dual role integrates the audience brilliantly#As opposed to off-broadway when Hermes is inherently separate from the narrative or characters#He’s telling the story without being any kind of invested in it or doing anything to change it#Damon and Nabiyah’s Hadestown IS like a myth because it’s a story being presented by Hermes the showman#But Reeve and Eva’s Hadestown is closer to the audience because of Hermes’s closeness with Orpheus#And Orpheus is changed by Hermes’s new roles as well!!!#When he has a father figure to prompt him and help him he develops this otherworldly innocence#Which fits him much better than the separation between his magic and his personality#With Hermes pushing the story Orpheus goes from ignoring the world to not knowing it’s there#Like in come home with me where “don’t come on too strong” makes “come home with me” way sweeter#Damon’s Orpheus and his narrative would be way closer to Reeve’s if he had Andre’s Hermes#Damn I really did write an essay huh

Thought I’d include my tags bc I was a bit scattered but I was right

The inclusion of Hermes as a father figure rather than a narrator in Hadestown is the single best thing Anaïs Mitchell could possibly have done for the framing of her story in this essay I will-