WRIGHT and Grainger are two men who met at school and both became obsessed with the Greek myths and their timeless relevance, which is certainly having a moment in these days of divided nations at war, very silly people who think they are gods and mindless people who bolster those delusions.

The duo has developed a number of gig theatre shows telling those old, old stories, delighting audiences around the world, winning festival prizes and selling out tours. Their Orpheus and Eurydice was chosen by Arts University Bournemouth students for the first show of the autumn season, performed in the intimate, in-the-round setting of the studio theatre on the university campus in Wallisdown, and directed by Megan Purdie.

It was a revelation for some of the older members of the audience, unfamiliar with the gig theatre approach, as the young actors drifted onto the acting area with guitars and clip boards and lanyards, and suddenly it had all started, as the hooded, black- caped Alice Read began to unfold the story. In this version, she said, the gods lived among the ordinary people, only summoning their often inconvenient heavenly powers when it was absolutely necessary – and in a time when we are all seduced into discovering our own “superpowers”, it was certainly relatable.

Three actors shared the central roles, with Ifeoluwa Aromona, Ethan Wilson and Joe Napier as Orpheus and Eve Harris, Catie Ironmonger and Aoife Scott Whitehouse as Eurydice, telling the story of their meeting, their intense love and their fate-decreed inevitable parting. But, as the narrator explained, we were looking at the story from Eurydice’s standpoint.

With the backing of familiar songs, the stories of teenage love, disappointment and grief are played out, proving once again that those old Greeks knew a thing about the human condition, and the more it changes, the more it stays the same.

The 12-strong cast includes powerful vocal performances from Kasandra Marie Georgi as Ceres and Charlie Feeney charismatic as Aristaeus and Hades, Finlay McGeachin as Old Orpheus, patiently waiting for the rebirth that happens with every Springtime, Indigo Handy as Zeus and Sophie Pescops as Hermes and Charon, with Alice Read returning as a stylish Persephone.

The season continues with A Christmas Carol at the Palace Court on 21st and 22nd November, and Animal Farm back in the Wallisdown studio from 4th to 6th December.

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Photographs by Andy Beeson/Red Manhattan