HADESTOWN – A JOURNEY INTO THE UNDERWORLD THAT EVENTUALLY CASTS ITS SPELL
Lyric Theatre, London – Press Night Review
By Esther Austin
Hadestown takes audiences on an unforgettable journey to the underworld and back, intertwining two mythic love stories: that of the young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and King Hades and his wife, Persephone. Deeply resonant yet defiantly hopeful, Hadestown asks us to imagine how the world could be. Its extraordinary musical landscape moves through American songwriting traditions, from indie folk and pop to blues and New Orleans-inspired jazz.
Created by Tony and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, Hadestown began life as an indie theatre project and acclaimed album before being transformed into the genre-defying musical we know today, alongside Tony Award-winning director Rachel Chavkin.
And so, on Thursday 24th September, I headed to the Lyric Theatre in London's West End for Press Night. The evening was in full swing when I got to the theatre. As they say in show business: Lights, camera, action.
As always, anticipation and curiosity dominated those moments before the performance began. Even the set, sitting there waiting for us on stage, added to that sense of intrigue. To be perfectly honest, I didn't quite know what to expect.
Finding My Way Into Hadestown: HADESTOWN – A JOURNEY INTO THE UNDERWORLD THAT EVENTUALLY CASTS ITS SPELL
For the first 30 minutes, I found myself trying to understand the sequence of events unfolding before me. Everything seemed to move incredibly quickly and it took me a little while to find the thread of the story and allow it to fully land.
So initially, I surrendered to what I could immediately understand the music, the dancing, the voices and the sheer theatricality of what was happening on stage.
And the singing was quite simply out of this world.
Then something happened. Once the story clicked into place for me, the entire experience shifted. I stopped trying to work out where I was being taken and simply allowed Hadestown to take me there. By the end of the performance, I knew I had experienced something rather magical.
Jazz, Movement and Extraordinary Voices
Once that connection had been made, the show became captivating.
What followed was an evening of deep, rich intensity, driven by stunning vocals, wonderful choreography and an energy that continued to build.
And for someone like me, who can lose interest quite easily if something doesn't hold me, Hadestown proved to be so much more than I had anticipated.
The music is intoxicating.
Heady jazz rhythms are marinated with movement and choreography that draw you further and further into this strange and mesmerising world. Voices blend in beautiful harmony before suddenly pulling back into quieter moments where the Fates serenade us almost a cappella, creating an entirely different atmosphere.
Those contrasts work beautifully.
At times the production is big, bold and powerful. At others, it allows the voices and storytelling to simply breathe.
And throughout it all there is that wonderful musical heartbeat running underneath the production.
A Formidable New Cast
This new cast brings together an exciting mixture of established international talent and rising West End performers.
Internationally renowned soprano Danielle de Niese takes on the role of Persephone, while acclaimed film and television actor Shaun Dooley plays Hades.
West End rising star Fayth Ifil steps into the role of Eurydice, with West End leading lady Malinda Parris as Hermes and singer-songwriter Nathan Sykes, from chart-topping band The Wanted, as Orpheus.
They are joined by Melanie Bright, Spike Maxwell and Lauran Rae as the Fates, with Femi Akinfolarin, Michelle Andrews, Gabriela Benedetti, Ollie Bingham and Sebastian Lim-Seet as the Workers. Juan Jackson, Oisín Nolan-Power, Lindo Shinda, Jasmine Triadi and Milly Willows complete the company as Swings.
Collectively, this is a cast with tremendous vocal power. But what stayed with me was not simply the quality of the individual voices. It was what happened when those voices came together.
There were moments when the harmonies seemed to fill every corner of the theatre, enveloping the audience and becoming almost another character within the production itself.
Something Rather Magical Hadestown surprised me. I began the evening intrigued but slightly disconnected, trying to piece together a story that initially seemed to be moving faster than I could absorb it. But perhaps that is part of the journey. Because somewhere along the way, without quite realising when it happened, I had been drawn into its world.
Into its music. Into its relationships. Into its darkness. And into its hope and the contrasting worlds of love lost, love requited.
By the final moments, the production that I had initially been trying to understand had become one I was completely immersed in.
And that, for me, is the magic of theatre.
Sometimes you walk into a production knowing exactly what you are going to get.
And sometimes a production asks you to trust it, to stay with it and allow it to reveal itself.
Hadestown did exactly that.
HADESTOWN – A JOURNEY INTO THE UNDERWORLD THAT EVENTUALLY CASTS ITS SPELL
HADESTOWN LISTING INFORMATION
Website: uk.hadestown.com
Instagram: HadestownUK
Twitter: HadestownUK
Facebook: HadestownUK
TikTok: hadestownmusical
Address: Lyric Theatre, 29 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 7ES
Performance schedule can be found at uk.hadestown.com
Running Time: Approx. 2 hours and 30 minutes including interval
Tickets: Tickets from £25
Box Office: Book via nimaxtheatres.com / call 0330 333 4812
(Phones line are open Monday –Saturday 10am – 6pm (excluding Bank Holidays)
For Groups book via groups@nimaxtheatres.com / call 0330 333 4817
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