Blush of Dogs

Production Photography by Robert Workman
Rehearsal Photography by Roland Reynolds

Set & Costume Design – Tabard Theatre

Written & Directed by Roland Reynolds

Lighting Design by Alex Hopkins

Performers – Ben Alderton, Anna Proctor, Michael Corsale

Based on the Greek Myth of ‘Thyestes’, Roland Reynold’s adaptation brings together Ancient Greece, Post-War Berlin and the Modern Day.

3 actors play the three nobles (King Atreus, his wife Aerope and his returned brother Thyestes), they also play ineffectual, eavesdropping slaves and share the role of the blind prophet, Tiresias.

Set across a backdrop of a post-apocalyptic Kingdom, the sordid and horrifying relationships soon come to the fore.

“Possibly one of the boldest, most original debuts I’ve seen in quite a while… it continually feels both ancient and modern”

Andrew Haydon, Postcards from the Gods

★★★★ “Although stage designer Isabella Van Braeckel pays homage to Greek theatre, her Doric pillars are collapsed and desecrated, the tarpaulin like material that covers the back of the stage reminding us of contemporary warfare, of insurgents and rebels- and one message is obvious- a rejection of the old ways of doing things and telling stories in favour of the new.”

Verity Healey, Theatre Bubble

★★★★ “Isabella Van Braeckel’s costumes are of a brilliant quality. These aren’t just dirty ragged clothes as they’re literally caked with bits of detailing: some manner of dirty glittery gloop… Van Braeckel’s set for Blush of Dogs is also reminiscent of retro camp kitsch, a la Pink Narcissus, with an equally as dirty and shimmery a backdrop and broken classical columns. It all reeks of a strange limbo of past and presence, that brims with mischief and irony: perfect for what Reynolds seeks to explore through his text.”

James Waygood, Grumpy Gay Critic

★★★★ “Tiresias, the kingdom’s old, blind hermaphroditic prophet, is bird-like in a hollow-eyed gas mask”

Tom Wicker, Time Out