A Poem And A Mistake theatre review: Myth and metaphor
A classics grad student confronts the violence hidden in ancient texts, sparking a body-swap journey through myth
Myrrha is a grad student, studying the classics, and she’s got questions. There are, as she points out, fully 50 sexual assaults in Ovid’s Metamorphoses and it’s something they’re not even talking about in class, preferring instead to cloak these violent attacks under heavy metaphor. This conversation with her professor sparks a Freaky Friday-style switcheroo, with performer Sarah Baskin doing a great job of changing physicality and voice as she moves between characters. It’s interesting to see how the professor’s faith in his life’s work disintegrates as he’s confronted by the truth of the stories, shedding his 21st-century distance and the privilege of a male body as he walks among those who would do him harm.
Threaded through this is a secret about Myrrha’s own life, with the action moving between past and present, Myrrha and professor seamlessly. It’s an ambitious script by Cheri Magid; the text is dense, packed full of references to ancient poetry, gods and monsters. It’s not always easy to keep up with who is who as Juno, Pan and the like pop by for a quick moment here and there and ideas tumble back and forth. But the central premise and a strong performance hold it all together to create an enjoyable and thought-provoking hour of theatre.
A Poem And A Mistake concluded at The Garage International at Adelaide Town Hall on March 8.