Compelling, gripping, funny and poignant, this one-man show reminds us that the best stories don’t need sets, props or SFX – just darkness, imagination, and the right voice to tell them.
A dark drama of heroes, monsters and dragons, a tale told by firelight, long before it was committed to paper, Beowulf is the oldest English epic, the foundation myth that underpins every Hollywood action movie.
Irish writer and actor Bryan Burroughs simultaneously brings the story into our own era, and returns it to the dawn of time in a triumphant display of physical theatre, underpinned by a script of heartbreaking emotional depth.
Burroughs weaves the ancient myth around the contemporary story of a motherless, friendless boy, whose imaginary friends are the heroes of Star Wars, ET and the Incredible Hulk, forging it anew for an age too cynical for heroes.
He entirely embodies every character: the unborn child, swimming in the womb, the cancer-cursed father, the shape-shifting swamp-hag, the sibilant Scottish superstar, (yes, he casts Big Sean as Beowulf) and last and most frightening of all, the fearsome, fire-breathing dragon.