My new show ARIADNE AND THE MINOTAUR premieres at the mighty Hay Festival next Tuesday.
‘Hay is the most important literary festival in the Western world’ said The New York Times – and I would agree! It’s a wonderful, wonderful festival, and it’s always massively exciting to perform there.
ARIADNE is a re-imagining of the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, this time told from the point of view of Ariadne. She is normally seen as a lovelorn victim: she gives Theseus a thread to help him find his way back out of the Labyrinth once he has killed the Minotaur. They elope, but he abandons on the island of Naxos.
My version tells a different story 🙂 My Ariadne is a determined young woman, passionate and strong. But she is tormented by the howls coming from the Labyrinth. The Minotaur is her half-brother, Asterion, and she has promised to save him from the darkness. Years have gone by, and she hasn’t been able to do it. But then a black-sailed tribute vessel from Athens arrives, and the spindle of her destiny starts to unwind…
It’s a gorgeous show, if I say so myself! I am very pleased with it and can’t wait to take it in front of an audience. There are dazzling images and lovely music: I sing  and play a shruti – an Indian instrument like a mini harmonium.
Here’s the info:
CAT WEATHERILL
ARIADNE AND THE MINOTAUR
Event 219 •  • Venue: Starlight Stage
A world première from one of Europe’s leading performance storytellers. Ariadne is a bold re-imagining of the Theseus myth, which challenges the notion of Ariadne as lovelorn victim. Beautifully balancing strength and vulnerability, passion and pain, this promises to be a mesmerising performance.
This show contains adult themes (there’s a sex scene in this Hay version!)