Adelaide Festival. The German Club. 11 March 2013.
As I’m sure you already know, ‘Beowulf’ is an epic poem written in Old English sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries. You’re no doubt aware that it’s regarded as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature. San Francisco’s BBB has transformed the wordy work into a snappy modern musical - called a song play by BBB to distinguish their work from the likes of ‘Sound of Music’ or ‘Cats’ – and have been performing it at festivals around the world since 2008. Now it’s Adelaide’s turn to be educated and amused.
We learn from a chorus of Old English lecturers that the monster or troll Grendel has been terrorising a Danish kingdom. After a couple of beers and a pack of crisps, Grendel is a complete bogan, rampaging amongst the audience and spraying beer from shaken cans. The king calls in the hero of the Geats, Beowulf, to slay the miscreant, who is known to live with his mother at the bottom of a lake. Beowulf enters with all the humility of Sir Lancelot, dressed in motley furs and looking a bit like Woody Allen playing a musketeer. They battle each other with ferocious name calling and finally, deadly thumb wrestling.
This production, created by married couple Jason Craig (Beowulf) and Jessica Jelliffe (the monster’s mum), is whacky, full of irony, musically diverse, and mainly wonderfully sung. The lament of a grieving and later avenging mother by Jelliffe was a real highlight, as was a similar elegy by another mother of a slain son.
The tight onstage band, including a horn section, heightened the raucous proceedings. Some of the show’s chaotic, simplistic or even trivial representations were risky but always conveyed an appropriate bathos. Yes, it was very funny, entertaining and even educational, because I didn’t know Beowulf from Wolfman Jack. Performed as it was in the great hall of the German Club, I would have enjoyed it even more with a stein of Löwenbräu and a weisswurst on my fork.
David Grybowski
When: 11 to 16 Mar
Where: The German Club
Bookings: www.bass.net.au
