Get a first listen to new eco rock musical The Minotaur
New eco rock musical The Minotaur has unveiled a first listen with the release of a cast EP and music video.
Produced by Metta Theatre, the musical comes from award-winning writer/director P Burton-Morgan (The Rhythmics, HouseFire, In The Willows) and composer Felix Hagan (Operation Mincemeat, HouseFire).
They reunite on a musical based on the Greek myth of The Minotaur – as a metaphor for fossil-fuel induced climate collapse and the inspiring power of community coming together to rise above denial, greed and devastation.
The EP features Janie Dee as ‘Pasiphae’, Arthur Darvill as ‘Theseus’, Zweyla Mitchell dos Santos as ‘Ariadne’, Neil McDermott as ‘Daedalus’ and Robin Simoes da Silva as ‘Icarus’.
Alongside the EP, a music video of ‘Singing Our Song’ has been released, choreographed by Mark Smith (The Color Purple, Deaf Men Dancing) with Andy Staples as Director of Photography, edited by William Reynolds, and with BSL translation by Deepa Shastri. The film features Sue Appleby as ‘Pasiphae’ (with vocals by Zweyla Mitchell dos Santos) and Natasha Julien as ‘Ariadne’, (with vocals by Janie Dee).
The beleaguered mining community of Crete, under the controls of their tyrannical ruler Queen Pasiphae must continue to feed the capitalist beast in the heart of the labyrinth of mines, or face death. Young Theseus, an outsider who has finally abandoned his own mining career tries to impress the nature loving daughter of Pasiphae, Ariadne.
Despite Ariadne’s pleas to her mother to reconnect with nature and her own cold heart, trying to dismantle late-stage capitalism single handily is too much for any one individual, so with the help of inventor Daedalus and his striving ambitious child Icarus, they must convince the local community to work together to reimagine a new climate conscious future.
But once the belching smoke of the Minotaur has cleared and the lung-irritating coal dust has settled, they must overcome a far greater monster than the machine itself. Can the community succeed in the face of corporate capitalist greed? Things are heating up on Crete…
William Reynolds said: “After a year of extremes, climate breakdown is no longer an idea for the future, but a visceral reality across the world – and Putin’s weaponisation of energy starkly highlights the danger of our addiction to the fossil fuels causing all the damage. It’s never been more pressing for theatre to engage with the Climate & Ecological Crises, and after pioneering environmental sustainable production for over a decade I’m so excited to be developing this urgent and optimistic show which engages so deftly with such huge, vital issues of climate justice and the power of community.”
P Burton-Morgan added: “This year has shown even those on the fence that we can no longer ignore the threat of the climate crisis. This new musical unpacks some of the climate crisis complexities but most of all engages on an emotional level with a subject that sometimes feels too big to connect to. And as always there’s a seed of hope.”
