EDFRINGE REVIEW: Mythos: Ragnarök (The Mythological Theatre)

Mythos: Ragnarök - ★★★★★ – Vegligastr/Spectacular

The Mythological Theatre
1-24 Aug
Review by Rebecca Mahar
 
Mythos: Ragnarök blazes back into the Fringe, fresh from the Bifrǫst to the drone of bone-rattling music and the roar of the crowd. Half professional wrestling, half epic mythological storytelling, this show is the definition of spectacle.
 
Loki (Ed Gamester) emerges from the fog to introduce the audience to the world of the show: Ginnungagap, the yawning void, the space between the nine worlds in Norse cosmology, where the primordial Ymir spawned all the jǫtunn. Prophecy tells that when ice and fire meet and do battle the result will be Ragnarök, the end times— and right on cue Odin (Howard Drake) arrives. 

Loki and Freyja in Mythos: Ragnarök. Pic: Mythological Theatre.

Together Loki and Odin team up to defeat their fathers Surtr (Sam Gardiner) and Borr (Fin McCarthy), winning their kingly belts of the realms of Muspelheim (fire) and Nilfheim (ice), bringing about peace rather than destruction. But Odin’s ambition to be Allfather and undisputed king brings trouble to the sworn brothers: first in the form of Loki’s sister Gullveig the Golden (Louise Young) and her children Frejya (Heidi Katrina) and Baldr (Beau Charles), and later in the climactic showdown between the two sides of the Æsir family.
 
Conceived, written, and directed by Gamester, Mythos: Ragnarök untangles the web that is Norse mythology and laces its chosen threads back together into a story of brotherhood, ambition, war, regret, betrayal, and unexpected heartbreak. What appears at first to be a thin pretext for packing the show’s hour and change with as many fights as possible quickly develops into a layered drama— still packed with as many fights as possible.
 
Comedy runs throughout the show as well, with Gamester delivering everything you could want from Loki, J.D. Knight as Odin’s son Thor bringing an affable idiocy to the god of thunder, and the acrobatic Charles as Baldr chiming in with quips such as “I am not pathetic, I am an athlete.” 

A fight scene from a previous run of Mythos: Ragnarök. Pic: Mythological Theatre.
 
The fights are, or course, a major selling point for the show, and deservedly so: ranging from simple flat back falls made dramatic by the heavily sprung stage that draw groans of sympathy from the audience, to complex combinations and extreme athletic displays, the choreography of Ragnarök is a stellar example of storytelling through violence. Once the convention of professional wrestling as the modus operandi is established, each sequence exists to serve the story as much as it does to show off the performers’ skills and thrill the audience.
 
The smallest member of the ensemble, Daisy Jenkins as Hel, carries a heavy dramatic load from the off, and her role is the most intricate of the show. Loki’s daughter, his little sprig of mistletoe, Hel is the catalyst that sets the two brothers and their sides of the family against each other once and for all. And when Jenkins does finally get to explode into physical action, she is awesome to behold.

A scene from a previous run of Mythos: Ragnarök. Pic: Andrew Max Levy.
 
In a rich world lit by Dan Phillips, designed and costumed by Melanie Watson, Mythos: Ragnarök combines mythology, drama, and professional wrestling in a unique spectacle of physical, immersive-feeling storytelling that earns its every sellout audience under the Meadows bigtop, and will leave you feeling its energy in your bones and begging for more.
 
Running time: One hour and ten minutes with no interval
Venue: Underbelly Circus Hub on the Meadows (Lafayette)
1-24 August 2025
Time: 8:40pm
Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/mythos-ragnar-k

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