Beautiful Evil Things @ Pleasance Dome

“Medu-ssssa,” a hissing echoes through the dark, spartan room, red cables lying in a circular shape marking the stage. Deborah Pugh is standing in a single spot of light; one arm up, one down, her fingers sizzling, snake-like. She is Medusa, the Greek monstress with snakes for hair and a gaze that transforms anyone into stone who dares to look into her eyes. This is her story. Well, not quite, she admits. “This is the story of my severed head.” 

As Medusa recounts the fate that brought her head to adorn Athena's shield, she proceeds to enthral us with tales of three Greek heroines: the valiant Amazonian queen, Penthesilea, engaged in a showstopping duel with Achilles during the Trojan war; the seer Cassandra, gifted with foresight yet cursed to be unheard; and the wronged mother Clytemnestra, who seeks justice for her slain child. These women, though cast out or killed, and undermined in the original text, are restored in this slightly altered 75-minute tour de force of Greek mythology. 

With epic energy, Pugh weaves their intricate stories, effortlessly playing multiple roles. Her performance – at once adrenaline-charged, roaring, then delicate and vulnerable – is moving as it is thrilling. 

Onstage, amidst minimal props, a microphone stands at the centre. Pugh wields it with effortless mastery, transforming it into various tools of battle – a spear, an arrow, an axe, and a walking stick for Hecuba, broken after Troy's fall. The sound design by Sam Halmarack, with compositions by Pugh and Halmarack, resonates as powerfully as her words. Electronic beats thump, rumble, and echo. Ali Hunter’s minimal lighting casts an auratic space, while Pugh's enactment captures every emotion with her charismatic and whole-bodied performance.

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Beautiful Evil Things, Pleasance Dome (Queen Dome), until 27 Aug (not Mondays), 3.40pm, £12-14

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