Five generations of horror flipped on its head

Bribery, betrayal, blood sacrifice, ordered assassinations, throat slitting, child cannibalism, rape and madness.

Those are the elements that made legends about the Greek House of Atreus, a family cursed with pride and violence, fascinating reading for several millennia.

In short form, several arrogant members of the Atreus family challenged the Gods on Mount Olympus and five succeeding generations paid the price dearly.

Edmonton indie theatre collective Impossible Mongoose has adapted the gruesome and shocking tales, and mixed the magical and mythical with a load of 21st century comedy in The Fall of the House of Atreus.

Co-produced with Blarney Productions, The Fall of the House of Atreus runs March 23 to April 2 at Backstage Theatre.

“It’s an incredible comedic take on the Greek mythology. The three Furies have taken over the theatre and tell the story as they see fit,” says actor/singer Luc Tellier.

“They are mischievous, self-indulgent and here to make it as funny as possible. It’s sort of like a clown world, like the clowns of horror Mump and Smoot, here to play with the audience on their own terms.”

The former St. Albert Children’s Theatre actor, now artistic associate with Blarney, has been heavily involved co-producing this re-invention.

Tellier first saw the show at last year’s Edmonton Fringe Festival.

“I initially went to see it to support some of my friends and the show was a smash. It got a great response from the audience, but not a lot of people saw it.

In this remount, actors Graham Mothersill, Sarah Feutil and Morgan Grau take on a dizzying amount of roles.

“It’s basically, how many prop gags can we fit into an hour?” says Tellier.

Award-winning playwright Jessy Ardern, one of Impossible Mongoose’s founders, takes the Greek tragedies and gives them a contemporary spin.

“The blood and guts is based on tragic stories, but it is full of modern quips. It can cheapen a show to add modern quips to a classic, but the way Jessy wrote it, it catches you by surprise.”

And the success relies in large part on her choice of language.

“She uses lots of heightened text with long Greek names and terrible settings paired with modern winks and nudges and stabs.”

Director Corben Kushneryk, another collective founding member, keeps the pace clipping at a relentless pace.

“He’s absolutely willing to jump in and make it happen. Corben’s strength is to take an offer from an actor or playwright, polish it and make it work on a new level.”

And as with any good director, Kurshneryk keeps the story on track, not easy with five generations of deranged royalty clamouring for power.

“The show is shockingly entertaining, incredibly funny and moves quickly. It’s a bastion of Greek tragedy turned on its head. The acting is superb and the mastery of telling this story is incredible and it moves by itself.”

Tellier also adds that 10 per cent of tickets from every house is set aside as pay-what-you-can.

“We’d like to get as broad an audience as possible.”