★★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. The Mortlock Library at The Courtyard of Curiosities. 17 Mar 2026
A retelling of the ancient Greek myth, told by one Storyteller and one Musician.
It’s been performed in cafes, shops, gardens, homes, boats, tents, lanes, fields, caves, and a very occasional theatre.
Over 500 performances across four continents since its creation in 2016.
While one has not been as active as is customary this Fringe, I have been privileged to attend some of the best shows on offer! However, those closest have hinted that my reviews could be more succinct. “Whose got the time to read an essay?” So…
Wright and Grainger’s Orpheus, which won Best Theatre (Adelaide Fringe) in 2023, is quite simply a masterpiece. The duo’s unique style of gig theatre brings us their most recent iteration of Orpheus. Myth, woven into contemporary lore here, survives being replayed, retuned, interrogated, and reshaped.
Drawing on the pantheon of Ancient Greek deities, who, across their shows, often frequent a local caf from whence they magically and brilliantly interact with contemporary mortals, this extraordinary duo from Yorkshire in the UK have crafted a highly engaging, visceral story. I was utterly spellbound.
This magnificent iteration of the tragic tale of Orpheus & Eurydice, from Orpheus’s point of view staged in the grand Mortlock Library marks a significant development in both the work—which I was first privileged to attend in the intimate, rustic Barbara Hardy Gardens at Holden Street Theatres in 2019—and the style of presentation. I should mention here their production of Eurydice, also staged in this extraordinary venue, sees the other side of the story.
Last year, the iteration I attended at The Treasury 1860 saw runway staging free the movement of these energetic performers significantly. Orpheus is never static. The danger comes the moment he pauses and…but that, to the uninformed, is a spoiler!
This staging in the Mortlock Library augments the runway configuration with lighting that supports Wright and Grainger’s wonderful delivery, delivery that flows with great ease between chatty and commanding. Further, the duo is supported by a superb live string quartet who also serve as vocal chorus. These additions to an already lyrically compelling text propel Orpheus to new heights!
We meet Dave, a man who, like so many of us, has lost the wonder and colour of childhood, out with some over exuberant mates for his thirtieth. He meets Eurydice in a bar, and the story takes off on its joyous path—until Eurydice meets a Fate that takes her to Hades.
The gods have a habit of dropping in unannounced. Wright & Grainger simply let them order coffee first. And the story takes another wonderfully engaging turn.
Alex Wright is electric as the main storyteller, his dynamic rapid-fire delivery to match Grainger’s sometimes driving guitar exquisitely balanced by measured sensitivity and powerfully held moments of stillness and silence. Phil Grainger’s singing is simply sublime, his virtuosity as a bard unquestionable, his stage presence incredibly engaging.
In this, Grainger really is a bard in the old sense: one who understands that the song isn’t about being heard, it’s about what happens after the last note.
By the time Wright & Grainger’s Orpheus, reaches it’s inevitable yet refreshingly surprising conclusion the room is loaded up with a rich cocktail of heartbreak, humour and reverence, a deeply communal and cathartic experience. While it’s a story so old it could be devoid of relevance, this Orpheus explodes into a life that is compelling and immediate. If Fringe is about finding something that stays with you longer than expected, then this is one of those evenings you measure the rest of the festival against.
Word around is we won’t be seeing Wright & Grainger for a few years of Fringe, so needless to say, Go! See It!
John Doherty
When: 19 Feb to 22 Mar
Where: The Mortlock Library at The Courtyard of Curiosities
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
