Created by Cassie Muise and Tyler McKinnon

The tapestry of our lives is weaved on the looms, backs and bones of the women and storytellers who came before us. Not a single thread wasn’t fought for in some form or another, and though a few details may have been re-stitched and altered along the way, there are few tales told today that aren’t (in some form or another) traced back to the Grecian Pantheon and the tales of Greek myth.

A remarkably well-known story, in various guises, is the origins of Archne and the birth of the spider. There was one person, a young Greek woman from Hypaepa who had a passion for the loom and spun stories even the gods could not rival. And you may well have met her, or her children, all across the gardens and quiet corners of the world. The story of Arachne, the woman who dared be superior to a goddess with her talents, is one steeped in centuries of re-telling and adaptation.

God Catcher hooks itself in the emerging genre of mythical (and to an extent historical) productions which lace storytelling and fable into penetrating the audience’s mindset to the undervalued women of history and folklore – who often take a backseat in their own tales to the men surrounding them, or the male authors who adopt them. God Catcher has a strong undercurrent of feminist history, subverting the more often told variation of the tale to shift Arachne from a tale of women standing against other women, and instead introduces additional patriarchal elements which contort the story to a more palatable and enjoyable telling. Here, Zeus, Hermes, and the Elders interfere with Arachne’s weaving and tale, the group re-imaginines the story of hubris into one of a progressive and challenging tale of feminism and altered narratives. It’s a clever switch, one which beds the production with all the solid foundations it requires.  

With a large ensemble working around a clean, if very simplistic stage – though the weaving technique itself is a clever mechanism, one may spot Captivate Theatre regular Colum Findlay (who turned in a fantastically directed Hunchback of Notre Dame this festival season) brings a bouncing spritely energy as the mischievous Hermes who plays a larger role in this version of the tale. But the show is in the hands of its two chief female leads: Isabella Gervais as the mighty Athena, and Yna Tresvalles as the principal protagonist Archne.

The similarities the pair demonstrate in character are as clear as their differences, harmonising beautifully for Put Your Armour On and effortlessly commanding the space in presence and vocals. As Gervais flitters between a vengeful and arrogant deity, and a sympathetic, even betrayingly mortal woman. It’s a superb performance, one which Tresvalles enhances and builds. Their naivety in facing Athena, and the eventual outcome of their fate are all handed with a grace that allows Tresvalles to shift from child-like to scorned and vengeful monstrosity.

A much more defiant and fuller production is lurking beneath the cobwebs here, and it’s evident the production team know this – it is easy to feel the passion and desire to push the show longer than the Fringe constraints allow, the set-up almost building to a second act only for it all to be cut short and resolved a touch too briskly. Lyrically, Tyler McKinnon and Cassie Muise’s songs manoeuvre between sharp and inciteful, to needing a re-tread to align close to the score with some songs coming over as word-heavy, even with Shonagh Murray’s balanced musical direction.

There’s a much grander story to weave here: and with support, and some tweaking, God Catcher will unfurl on audiences a cannily constructed and entertaining musical that has plenty of life and longevity in its future.