Review: Oh Zeus! (Queen's Theatre Hornchurch)

Review by Izzy Tierney

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Transporting audiences across the country back to ancient Greece is Oh Zeus!, a fresh, comical take on some of the godly residents of Mount Olympus. As a lover of both comedy and Greek Mythology, I was excited for what was in store, and as it turns out, completely unable to guess what lay ahead of me.

Playing the thirty plus characters in Oh Zeus! is the comedy trio Le Navet Bete, formed by Nick Blunt, Al Dunn and Matt Freeman. Since creating Le Navet Bete (aka ‘The Daft Turnip’ in French’) in 2008, they have delighted audiences at The Edinburgh Fringe and all around the UK with shows such as Serendipity, Dracula: The Bloody Truth and The Three Musketeers, forming a long-standing partnership with director and writer, John Nicholson in the process. Having spent almost twenty years writing, producing and performing their shows, it’s clear how passionate the three are about the work they create and their desire to make people laugh.

Oh Zeus! definitely succeeds in making people laugh. There’s something intrinsically funny about putting powerful, well known figures into a farcical setting of stupidity and chaos, and Le Navet Bete does this well. We meet Hebe, the Goddess of Youth, who has fallen in love with and plans to marry mortal hotel manager Gregg. Her mother, Hera, supports this marriage, unlike her father, Zeus, who does not. He believes Hebe should marry Ares, the God of War, who also happens to be her brother, but since Zeus and Hera are siblings, what’s the big deal? In order to stop the wedding until Ares returns, Zeus devises what he believes to be a cunning plan: fake his death and place the blame on Gregg. Of course, things don't go quite as he imagines they will, and after a riotous trip to the Underworld, he’s forced to reevaluate his behaviour.

There’s plenty of silliness and unexpected moments of hilarity in the show, moreso in the second act. The first act can tend to drag a little at times, with some of the jokes becoming a bit too repetitive or going on for longer than necessary. There’s still a lot of joy to be found in the first act, but it could definitely do with a few cuts. For example, the wedding planner, a seemingly unnecessary character, sings a whole song about setting up the hotel for the various gods and goddesses invited to the wedding, but the majority of them are never seen, have zero impact or relevance to the plot, and are never mentioned again. The music is also too loud, making it hard to understand the lyrics in some of the songs which doesn’t help with the introduction of the show.

The highlight of act one is Zeus’ attempts to fake his death, which turns into a very funny farce, resulting in some great audience participation and a hilariously sexy lap dance to the Greek version of ‘Careless Whisper’. The second act proves much better, with jokes more consistent in their landing, withthe focus of the show feeling more refined and showing the comedic potential that Le Navet Bete possesses. There’s Top Trump cards, time travel, betrayals and sacrifices, babies being catapulted into the audience (definitely my favourite scene), brollies of doom, a swan pedalo, and a fantastic ‘Bat Out of Hell’ finale. The second act is also more out of the box, and less over the top. Some of the characters can be quite grating to start with, and are often overplayed a bit too much, but this is much less of an issue in the second act, where the audience gets to root for the characters and be taken on a crazy journey with them. The show is also unpredictable, regularly shocking you in the most delightful way with many wacky but funny choices.

The cast impress with the amount of characters they play, quick changes they make and physical comedy they perform. You can tell they have been friends and worked together for so many years as there’s a natural chemistry between them at all times. They also adlib and improvise a little to try and make each other laugh and in doing so, make the audience laugh too. I love a good corpse in a show like this and those unscripted moments really add to the personal element of the performance. Al Dunn is brilliant as the villain you love to hate but come to love, Zeus, particularly shining during Hades’ attempts to drive him to insanity. Nick Bunt is excellent as the stressed, loveable Gregg who you immediately root for, and captivating as the Greatest Showman-esque Hades who really just wants to be invited to family events. He brings a real Charles Boyle-like energy to his characters which is extra fun for any fans of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Matt Freeman is fabulous as Hera, who steals the show in every scene she’s in with her commanding presence and deadpanned confidence, contrasted nicely with Hebe’s sweet, smiley nature.

John Nicholson, assisted by associate director Katie Villa, does a great job of ensuring everything runs smoothly and costume changes are successful in a display of expert direction. The costumes are bright and aesthetically pleasing to look at, and surprisingly detailed considering the amount of quick changes necessary. Along with designing the costumes, Fi Russell has also designed a clever set that works for all the scenes without ever feeling boring or overused. Stuart Billinghurst's lighting design adds to this, with simple but very effective red lights used for scenes in the Underworld that make it feel like a whole different setting.

The most concise way to sum up Oh Zeus! would be strange but fun. There's a lot going on, some of which doesn't always work, but is more than made up for by the enjoyable evening you spend watching Le Navet Bete create mythical mayhem. If you're looking for something unique and a lot of fun, Oh Zeus! is the show for you.

Oh Zeus! plays at Queen's Theatre until 10th October, before continuing its tour around the country. Tickets from https://www.lenavetbete.com/tour-dates

Photos by Mark Senior